Andrew Boon

Finally sorted our my Aperture library. 30,000+ photos, half RAW, most in 21megapixels. TIme to celebrate with a couple of random picks. Guess I posted a couple of these photos before, but my memory is short

With so much in the head now it feels so difficult to write… I have thoughts, emotions, details to tell about, but also that imminent need to cut it short straight to the core. Nah… I’ll make it short:

We had one really full day today. Julia wanted to visit a guy (her guitar teacher) who now lives out of the city at what we call “dacha”. He’s just yet another beautiful human being, but he also has a rare, supposedly incurable disease (Behterev), so he’s struggling and Julia basically wanted to help him with some information she came across. Anyway… the whole point is that something happened there…

Matty and Mumunia

While Julia was talking with Kostia (the guy) Matthew and I were wandering around, entertaining ourselves. We found two calves (young cows), who were just resting on the grass. Matthew went on to cuddle one immediately and the little creature was literally HAPPY about the company. Just look at this:

Matthew gave him a name – Mumunia. He presented him a flower and tried to feed (but later reasoned that Mumunia can find food by himself). They were playing, gently and even passionately, like two friends. The calf was crying when we left, he was calling for Matty to return.

Later that day Julia asked Matt a question… “would you want to eat Mumunia?“. He said “No.“. Just hold your breath for a moment, and listen… it’s “no”.

This, and, quite coincidentally (or not so), the “Earthlings” film that we just watched led me to a few points:

1. We lie to our kids.

We teach them compassion, care, love. We want them to make right choices. But we give them an innocently looking beef sausage over and over, again and again, untill they get used to it so much that they would close their eyes to anything, just to get another one. The thing is that our kids don’t want to eat or kill animals. We teach them. We force them.

2.

We lie to ourselves. Who, in their sane mind can grab a live duckling and bite out it’s head? Not you, right? Now how about a juicy apple? Feels better, huh? And what about a smoked turkey…. ? We have right answers in our hearts from the very beginning, from birth, but we’ve grown to close our eyes, consciously and lie to ourselves, just to keep things easy. Dumplings are dead animals. Hot-dogs are killed calves. Shoes are animal flesh. Apples are apples. But we know it, right? We just choose not to think about it. We have our lines of defense, sophisticated and comforting… “we were meant to eat it”, “don’t tell me or you’d spoil my dinner”, “fish has no brains”, “but apples feel pain too, right?” or the worst of all “but my body needs ….”. One can tell me about research, science, books, experiments, but I’ve seen the truth today – it’s all in your heart, until you cover it, until you wrap your sin into a fancy foil, until you loose the connection. Matty said “No”. And it was the first time when we didn’t lie to him, when asking this question.

3. We are not pests, virus, aliens or “mistakes”. It’s time to stop this bullshit already. It’s when you know you’re doing something wrong (and don’t want to stop) you call yourself a “bad guy” and keep rolling. But it’s life, it’s our home – we have to take the responsibility. Humankind is a natural and integral part of planet Earth, and all the wrongs that we do are mistakes we should fix.

p.s. Julia and I are vegetarians for a few years now. We know people who’ve been vegetarian or vegan for many years. We know people who are veg from birth. They are healthy, happy and strong. The only reason why people eat animals is because they like how it tastes. The only reason why they think it tastes good is because they are forced to get used to it, by marketing, ads, misinformation, friends, and first of all – parents. Meat/fish/poultry/seafood/any-animal-protein is not tasty for men, we have to roast, boil, add spices, salt, lemon, mix it with something, etc – we go to great length to even be able to consume it. It starts from killing. Then we lie.

Watch this.

From now on me, Julia and Matthew are Boons.

Andrew Boon, Julia Boon and Matthew Boon. The new surnames shoudl work better in English-speaking enviroment. the old surnames are still effective and can be used, if need be.

Went to a shopping town in Rouse Hill (10 minutes drive from us) yesterday, no particular plans, just wanted to have a short walk and let Matty hang out on their playgrounds. Which he did. Big time. Watch the pictures:

This playground is superb. The best we have even seen. Matty loves it.

Hm... look at him.. doing something suspicious...

Spider feet

Spinning the wheel

It all started slow...

Smashing fountains...

Accelerating...

Giving it a second thought (just to make parents think that everything is under control)

Ah... what the heck! It's playtime!

Hurry up!

Yeah! Aussie spring rocks!

Fun for everyone

Gotcha!

Mission Accomplished. Brave Australian soldier reports full surrender of Rouse Hill Shopping Town Square Fountains!

In support of a special edition of the critically-acclaimed album, Songs from the Labyrinth – a personal tribute to late 16th-century Elizabethan composer, John Dowland (1563–1626) – Sting will perform at Sydney Opera House for one show only! Sting will be joined by esteemed lutenist, Edin Karamazov and Classical concert trio ZBG will support.

More about the concert here.

We’ve received an invitation to get a hold of tickets from priority allocation and didn’t miss the chance. Tickets in hands (they were all sold in just 15 minutes).

bad girls from valley high dvd

Sting. Songs From The Labyrinth.

Are we excited? You bet. We both love Sting’s music/songs and this opprotunity is the one not to be missed.

Toyota sponsors a so-called “National Tree Day” in Australia, and we were lucky to have one of the sites just nearby – in Fred Caterson Reserve. People just gather to plant trees. Council staff provide trees, packs, sticks and tools. On top of that you get a nice snack, drinks, a certificate and finally, a small tree to plant at home.

First, I think it’s just a wonderful idea – we actually had a chance to show Matthew how to plant a tree and explain him the whole process. He actively participated and we planted about 25 trees together.

Second, it was a great workout with a “meaning”. I was literally smiling for a few hours for no reason, just smiling.

Third, it was a perfect quality-time for a family after the big party .

Here go a few photos:

p.s. This is by far the first and only “sponsorship” that actaully has effect on me as a customer.

In every life there should be a moment of complete satisfaction. Here’s a piece of inspiration…

Disclaimer: he didn’t really eat all that, but boy was he happy!

I can’t remember myself in a theater for years! Now, it’s official – we’ve got tickets, arranged our friends to look after Matty and this Saturday we’re going to Sydney Opera House for Don Giovanni live in europe.mp3 download hills have eyes the online depakote .

The performace is said to be in Italian with surtitles. 3 hours. Contains nudity. What else would you ask for a perfect date? Ah, yeah, a perfect woman… got one, ready to go.

On the 3rd of November 2008 me and Julia

Julia and I gave a Pledge of Commitment to Australia.

We are citizens of Australia now. It was a 7-year road for us and we’re absolutely happy to finally have the opportunity to say “I am Australian”.download chuck berry is on top chuck berry