quintessentially australian ways to die

I don't want to buy into the Steve Irwin malarky, because I don't give that much of a shit. It's sad that someone has died (in quite surprising circumstances it must be said) + Steve-o probably did at least as many good as completely stupid things. Beyond that, I have to confess that I didn't know the man personally.

What does fascinate + in many respects amuse me is the cult of public grief that springs up around these kinds of events. People who may barely have mourned their own nana's passing are suddenly hysterical. And all manner of morons are leaping up + down with something to say.

Some favourites:
--Naomi Robson's addition to her proven track-record of complete idiocy. Good gawd I loathe that woman.
--Russ + Germaine stepping forward to offer the voice of Australia - one right, one left but both equally ill-considered + sensational.
--And our very own leader once again adding his tokenistic + silly comments to the milieu, saying that Irwin's death occurred in "quintessentially Australian circumstances". Keep yer lid on, Johnny-boy! I mean, seriously, we have four cases of death by stingray in recorded Australian history. Compare that to 47,512 of cardiovascular disease in 2004 alone + you may agree that heart disease is the quintessential Aussie method of death. Next comes cancer. No mention of crocs, let alone stingrays. So how, exactly, this qualifies as quintessential is a mystery to me.

I've entertained myself for the last few days, thinking of other means of death that might qualify as quintessentially Australian. Choking on a ring-pull from a beer can maybe. Being pummelled to death by a boxing kangaroo, or suffocated by a cuddly koala-beer. Insert the cliche of your choice here.

We visited Mewi, Steve + Manu in the Mountains yesterday (more on that later) + Steve confessed to an irrational fear of pressure-cookers. He was telling us that when he encountered them in China he would cross to the other side of the road in order to avoid them. I had a sudden thought that death by exploding pressure-cooker might be a quintessentially Chinese way to die... ?

If you have any thoughts on the quintessence of death - in any of its guises - please feel free to add your comments!