It's too bad he died, but it sucks that he was killed by a stingray. It's like that dude in Grizzy Man getting killed by a moose. And in the end, should we be surprised that a man who tempted fate by screwing with dangerous animals dies after screwing with dangerous animals.

R.I.P. Steve Irwin Too bad your legacy was tarnished by that whole baby-croc incident.

on a somewhat related note, has anyone else ever noted the disproportionatey high number of aussie travelers? whenever i go abroad, it seems as if there is always a strong showing of australians also on holiday. why is that?

I thought sting rays had things the size of snake teeth at the end of their tail. Who knew they had 8 inch serated knives at the end of their tales. 8 inches! That's a big freaking knife.

By the way, if you're looking for someone killed by a moose, check out Moose Man, the less popular sequel to Grizzly Man. And boy, let me tell you, Moose Man totally had it coming!

To my comrade in arms: I have extensive, extensive familiarity with the phenomenon you are describing, the ubiquitious Australian "backpacker." my god. In my book, they tend to out-rank (and out-irritate) even american, japanese, and german tourists. From what I've gathered, its become a pretty deeply embedded cultural thing; your really not cool if you don't stay in at least 1,000 crappy hostels throughout the world. It seems almost akin to 18th and 19th century Brits doing what they called "the grand tour" of continental Europe, only while the English got off on spending money, Aussies can't stop patting themselves on the back about how "bohemian" their trips are...not that they are actually cheap, they can last years and there are always more than one. I think the analogy is quite perfect, actually, two nations with too much money and an unquenchable sense of entitlement to go anywhere --they fancy themselves, after all, the "benign" white people (no imperial legacy, no Holocaust, not America, not South Africa, etc, never mind their participation in Iraq), and are often overheard bragging about how "accepted" they are by indigenous populations that would be hostile to "less-cool" brits, french, etc (again, never mind the near-genocide against their own indigenous people). I guaranfuckingtee you, just try to casually tell some interesting story about your travels with an Aussie in the room, and he or she will immediataly try to top you. Londoners have some great jokes about the "Kangaroos with backward pouches" referring to their habit to never, ever, remove their massive rucksacks. Ok...enough said.