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My whole family has been bawling over the Steve Irwin tributes. It's funny, I didn't think of myself as particularly a fan of his - I was aware of him, because my children watch a lot of Animal Planet and Irwin did a special Crocodile Hunter where he went to Antarctica to study penguins, with which my younger son is obsessed - but I didn't stop to think about how much I knew about the man or admired his work with wildlife until he wasn't there anymore.

Irwin wasn't much older than me, and was really just coming into his own; he'd been involved in overblown controversies about whether he got too close to endangered wildlife and whether he endangered his children introducing them to his crocodiles, but even the negative publicity drew attention to his work, which was what really mattered. If he did get too close to a few animals, the amount of attention he brought to their plight surely compensated for it; my children can name species on the endangered list and precisely what threatens them because of Irwin. As for his own kids, he was raised at that same zoo which they will inherit, and although I personally wouldn't take a chance with my infant around a crocodile, I understand why he and Terri thought they were introducing their baby to something that was going to be a big part of his life.

My kids had been rather calm about the tragedy, asking about stingrays and where Irwin had been swimming and what would happen to the zoo, in the distant way with which I think most people approach most celebrity deaths. But after the televised memorial service to Irwin, my younger son was inconsolable for awhile. They don't watch Star Trek reruns as consistently as I did as a child, so I don't know whether it's affecting their values as much as it affected mine, but they could do a lot worse than to have watched the Crocodile Hunter and absorbed his passion for wildlife.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Which Star Trek captain would receive your vote for president?

-Who was James T. Kirk's mentor?

-Did Gene Roddenberry's wild living have a negative effect on The Next Generation?

Many more topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items from September 2004:

• Coto: Season Five 'Very Possible'
  Executive producer Manny Coto expressed confidence that the fourth season's direction could lead to a fifth year for the crew of the NX-01: "I think it's very possible there'll be a season five...I expect that we're gonna do very well this season and they'll want to bring us back for another one."

• 'Enterprise' DVD Announcement Expected In October
  Sources reported that Paramount Home Entertainment planned to make an official announcement about Star Trek: Enterprise's DVD release, which would see all four seasons of the series sold in box sets over the course of 2005.

• Shatner's 'Has Been' Lineup Unveiled
  The full track listing wasn announced for William Shatner (Captain Kirk)'s anticipated new album, Has Been, written and produced by Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five and featuring collaborations with Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins and Brad Paisley.

More news can be found in the archives.

Poll Results

Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:

How did you spend Star Trek's 40th anniversary on the 8th? Star Trek turned 40? Gee, I missed it. 36.3% - (246 Votes) Having a DVD marathon. 21.5% - (146 Votes) Watching something else - I'm waiting for the remastered episodes! 21.1% - (143 Votes) At home watching G4. 10.7% - (73 Votes) At a convention. 5.9% - (40 Votes) Writing in my blog about what Star Trek has meant to me. 2% - (14 Votes) Total Votes: 677

Please vote in our new poll on how the remastered episodes look to you!

Happy Birthday!

Saturday, September 23rd is the birthday of Rosalind Chao, who plays Keiko O'Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

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