Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin

...


A stingray did what countless crocodiles and other dangerous beasties might have wanted to do - playfully or not so playfully - but never succeeded in accomplishing, over the years... And that is "end the lucky streak" one Steve Irwin was on, the renowned Crocodile Hunter who put to shame fellow local hero from down under Paul Hogan, a.k.a. Crocodile Dundee, since relegated to becoming Flipper's patsy (in a failed attempt at a franchise to boot) while Irwin continued on to invade all manners of media, even the silver screen. This is, after all, the age of "reality TV" - and there were no more real dangers than those that Steve Irwin placed himself squarely into and this very routinely too! He captivated TV audiences that way - less so moviegoers - and was shooting another documentary in his own inimitable style (imitated though it may be; it was never really duplicated) when tragedy struck in the form of a devil ray.
(Though it may not be technically a "devil ray", I'll call it as such and even Terri Irwin, a renowned animal lover, will perhaps do likewise here...)

My most sincere condolences to his wife hence, Terri, to their two children and other family, all of whom held their collective breath each time he would take one outrageous chance after another... He seemed to thrive on doing that too - taking risks and pushing his luck to the limit. As my dear departed father used to say, "tantas vezas que vai a jarinha a fonte, que, um dia, ela fica là" - which means, in short, that one day, one's luck is bound to run out...

My Dad is one of the first genuine good guys who has passed away this year - the year that seems bent on seeing all the good ones take a hike from "mother earth" and ascend into heaven... So that we're left with not much else other than an overwhelming majority of rotten apples?!? Sure looks like the plan here...
2006 has been nothing short of a very, very bad year for the "good guy"...
At any level and in any field too.

The Crocodile Hunter was not the only good guy to perish prematurely on this day - far from it. 2006, as I stated, has been one lousy year in that regard with an overabundance of good guys biting the big one since January...

On this day alone, September 4th, 2006:
In Jordan, a British tourist was among the dead on the site of a terrorist attack.
In Irak, another American soldier was killed while
in Afghanistan, another Canadian soldier went on to meet his maker because of that most oxymoronic of all things called "friendly fire"... This time emanating from a NATO jet, no less! With friends like these...

Most revolting of all, in terms of good guys dying needlessly, left and right, is the following tale (which is our main link today, incidentally, courtesy of sf.indymedia.org) - a tragedy which actually did not take place on this day precisely but, as fate would have it, that I learned about today, just as I learned about Mr. Irwin's untimely passing too...

A puppy died - and it can be directly blamed on American Airlines and their denying the pup the appropriate medical care within a reasonable amount of time. A two-year-old English bulldog died after arrival from a cross-country flight. Terrence Ing, the owner of Willie, placed his dog under the care of American Airlines to safely transport his pet on a New York to San Francisco flight. Ing never expected Willie was not going to make the trip alive. According to Ing, an American Airlines baggage manager denied him access to Willie and had the dog relocated pending instructions from airline superiors. It was only after Ing contacted several area veterinarians that animal paramedics arrived five hours after the flight landed. By then, Willie had died. An animal paramedic who examined Willie’s body at the airport believes the dog may have survived had American Airlines provided adequate medical care. Now, Ing is taking American Airlines to court.
I just know that animal lovers such as the Irwins would be supporting Terrence Ing in his legal recourses here.

I'm at the point that I wonder "who's left" among the good guys... And who could be going next? Could it be... me?