Crikey...

I just watched "He Changed Our World: The Steve Irwin Memorial Tribute".

It still doesn't seem quite real, that this larger-than-life man, who was so enthusiastic about everything, is gone. To be so passionate about your work that you can smile and laugh over the pain of two broken bones is something that, sadly, most people will never experience.

As a poem by Rupert McCall which was read at the memorial said:

"Exploding forth with character and redefining cheek,
it's one thing to be honored as a warrior unique.
It's one thing to have microphones and spotlight cameras shoved,
it's another to be taken in and genuinely loved."

And though it cannot begin to make up for Steve's absence, Steve's father, sisters, wife and children know that he was, truly, loved by those who watched him. I have never met one single person who wasn't, in most cases, instantly affected by Steve's engaging television prescence, his wild and sometimes seemingly death-defying adventures. Additionally, his openness with his emotions, the ease and power with which he felt is something that is unfortunately lacking in many. From the excitement in his voice when he spoke about his wife, to the tenderness he showed with his children, to the tears he wept openly when talking about his mother, this was a man who should serve as an example to all about how to be more honest with our emotions.

Bob Irwin(his dad) and Terri were there, of course, still devastated by the loss of their son and husband. Steve's friend of nearly thirty years, Wes "This is Wes, me best mate" Mannion broke down at the podium. Hundreds of men, women and children in the crowd, Steve's longtime fans and visitors, wept and sobbed openly. Baby Bob was unconcerned(perhaps it's best that he won't really remember his father), and Bindi...

A friend who watched this with me wondered aloud how she was so collected. I replied that, quite simply, this was literally what she had been born for. Steve and Terri knew that, no matter how dedicated their employees might be, they would need to ensure the future of Austraila Zoo, of the saltwater crocodile research that Bob and later Steve pioneered, of the massive conservation efforts that Steve used a sizable portion of the spoils of his fame to support. To do this, they had to have a child. From the time she was an infant, Bindi was around animals, much as her father had been. In raising their little girl that way, Steve and Terri excised all fear from her, and instilled in her the dedication, the passion for wildlife that they shared with each other. The legacy of the Crocodile Hunter will be carried on by that "little girl"(which is what Bindi means in Aborigine) who has already made the decision to dedicate her life to her daddy's work. And through it all, Terri will be there, coping with her loss as best she can while raising her children; Bob will be there, teaching Bindi everything he taught Steve, just as he will later teach his namesake grandson. And I believe that because of Steve's passion, his enthusiasm, his filmed adventures and his love for all wildlife, his legacy - of conservationism, protection and education - will endure long after he is gone.

Eh...

Well, what's new?

Finally beat Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords. Only took me two years. Yay me! Not a bad ending, but I screwed up a few things early on. Oh, well.

Got the 20th anniversery edition of Transformers: The Movie. Rock.

Now off I go to do...stuff.

And "Once a Week" follows its brother "Once a Day"...

Eh, what can I say, I'm lazy.

Found out Kara Edwards(voice actress of Videl and Goten on Dragonball Z) email address(not that difficult, as it was on her webpage) and wrote to her telling her I was building a Wikipedia page about her. She actually wrote back to me and was quite gracious. I actually then BUILT the thing instead of just talking about it. If you're interested, just go to Wikipedia and search "Kara Edwards" to see the results of three days of work.(mostly the coding, cause I was completely unused to Wiki's formatting)

Got Kingdom Hearts, but at the moment I'm trying to finally beat Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2.

At work, Tinkerbell is leaving and Caboose-gone-retarded may be on the way out as well, after he said something especially untoward.

Picked up and actually listened to all of my cd's(GG Allin's The Troubled Troubadour, "Wierd Al" Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynnwood and the new Evanescene, The Open Door. Now all I have to listen to is Josh Turner's Your Man and Lamb of God's Sacrament. Listened to the first track on Sacrament the other day, and if the rest of the record is HALF that good, it'll kick nine kinds of ass.

And since I'm bored, here's the review of The Troubled Troubadour I sent to a buddy of mine the other day. Now off for pizza and Cheerwine!

--
Well, perhaps needless to say, the audio quality of the tracks is extremely poor. I know punks usually record on a shoestring budget, but GG's shoestring had been chewed by a dog and was missing that little plastic piece on the end. The first four songs are decent enough, nothing exceedingly special, but nothing as vulgar or misogynistic as some of his other stuff like "I Wanna Rape You" or "Cock On The Loose".

The fifth track is the most interesting. "Rowdy Beer Drinkin' Night", except for its similarly-low budget recording(thought to have been done in a bathroom) would fit right in with any of the old Hank Williams Jr. songs you remember from your grandfather's bar. The lyrics are country, the rythym and chords are country. Seeing as this is the same guy who put out albums such as "Eat My Fuc" and "Freaks, Faggots Drunks and Junkies", it comes as a bit of a curveball.

The recorded phone conversations lend credence to Brodian's(the producer) claim that "GG had his 'onstage' persona, but despite his faults, he was really a smart guy". Allin(who was in prision at the time, and unaware the conversations were being recorded) talks to Brodian about booking club dates, the release schedule for the original "Troubled Troubadour" vinyl EP, classic country music, and perhaps most telling, how he purposely changed his behavior from day to day so that the guards and other inmates would be apprehensive about him and leave him alone.(have to say, if I was in prison, that sounds like a good plan)

Additionally, there are two short spoken-word tracks that are done by GG fully "in character", as well as one-take cover of the Rolling Stones song "Dead Flowers". To put it mildy, this version is chaotic, and is the most "GG" sounding song on the album. Another song is a cover called "Up Against The Wall". On this song, which was actually produced and sounds good enough to be played on the radio, GG actually sings instead of snarling, growling, or his standard talk-singing. While not the best singer in the world, he wasn't bad, a low tenor that could actually carry a melody.