September
4th, 2006
As I write
this, the following stories have been placed on the back burner
at CNN.com:
The lead
story, if you haven't already guessed, is the death of Crocodile
Hunter Steve Irwin, stabbed through the heart by a stingray.
The most
amazing thing to me isn't that Irwin died in a
manner so bizarre it's only happened seventeen times in
recorded history. No, what amazes me is that my first reaction
was surprise, as though the man's life hadn't revolved
around joyfully taunting
Death. Has there ever been another human being so eager
to place himself in harm's way for the camera? Well, yes,
actually. But he's not dead. Yet.
If it seems
that I am mocking Irwin, or his death, rest assured I am not.
I think Steve Irwin was inarguably extraordinary and, while
I am sorry for his family, I can't help but think that the jaw-dropping
way he left the world was perfectly suited to the adventurous
life he led. Needless to say,
Jamie disagrees with me. (Hopefully, he'll fix the words
vs. pictures link and erase this when he wakes up in the morning
;-)
-Graham
P.S. To
the countries that celebrate Labour Day in May (pretty much
everybody) or October (Australia and New Zealand, you so crazy!),
we apologize for the late update. Now that summer's officially
over, I'm hoping Jamie's cottage days are done for the year.
