If anything, global response to the Rising only confirmed something that many Australians had quietly believed for quite some time: If forced to live in Australia for a year, most of the world's population would simply curl up in a fetal ball and die of terror.

May posterity show mercy when it look back upon the work we do today. We did what we could with what we had.

Shaun has working his audience into a frenzy down to a science; by the time he's done with them, they get excited by the mysterious discovery of pocket lint. It's impressive, but I'd rather watch him move. There's something wonderful about the way he lets go, becoming all energy and excitement as he outlines what's coming next. Maybe it's geeky for a girl my age to admit she still loves her brother. I don't care. I love him, and one day I'll bury him, and until then, I'm going to be grateful that I'm allowed to watch him talk.

Be good. Be kind to each other. And if there's somebody you love, tell them. The world always needs more love.

Any good Irwin can make going to the corner store for a candy bar and a Coke lood death defying and suicidal.

No one should be posing for duck-lipped selfies with the plaque of the dead. That wouldn't be right.

The people who have the power want you scared. They want you walking around paralyzed by the notion that you could die at any moment.