Whenever it was a sunny day which at times seemed too few and far between, Amsterdam street cafes and private decks were the place to visit with friends. When the sun was out, everyone was always in a good mood, no matter what personal circumstances may have brought gloom and doom on any given day. My friends used to say whenever Tony is in town the sun is shining. I was lucky that way.
On this particular sunny afternoon, old friends from different generations were amongst the first native women in Holland I came to know. Ellen, the woman being photographed with a flip phone, owned a lovely lingerie shop called Female & Partners in Amsterdam’s city center in 1999. I was referred to visit the shop when I called upon a stylist and asked for a recommendation for a store that sold unique lingerie sets as I was preparing for a new series of photographs for a magazine article about my erotic work in Europe. When I entered the exclusive women’s boutique the young woman taking the picture was behind the counter. Not quite like the way she looks in this picture but close. She had the most adorable face and Dutch accent that I couldn’t help but ask to photograph her while she was behind the register. From that point on we kept in touch and would see each other around town within our circle of friends.
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Sita and Ellen, Amsterdam 2003. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2023
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Four years later in 2003, Ellen, the woman being photographed in these pictures was the original owner of the shop. I didn’t meet her on the first day of my visit years earlier, but we later met through friends and enjoyed each others company. Whenever I was in town it was a delight to meet up with Ellen for drinks and hear all of the latest insider gossip. She was truly a free spirit and exuded a certain joie de vivre. She defined Dutch beauty at any age. I can’t recall why Ellen and Sita came over to the apartment that day. Maybe it was purely just to enjoy the sun. get naked and take a few pictures with my new toy, a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. These are amongst the first images I produced with the new digital medium. Nowadays, I’m using a pocket size Sony mirrorless camera.
Santa, baby
Oh yeah, that tune has such a ring of memories of our mid-20’s fling
Working at FAO over that holiday of years long ago
You were in stock and I worked the register, but whenever we got the chance we’d kiss under the staff room’s mistletoe
Those lips of yours were like a gift to me
As mine to yours were a present so true
Even beyond being man and wife for more than a decade, the passion still simmers
Couldn’t wait for the last customer to leave, so we could close up the store
Turning the key into the lock of our place, our jackets were placed in the hall closet and I plugged in the Christmas tree to watch those colors flickering on and off in a flashing pulsation
We’ve been so busy back at the store that season we’d left contents of a box of decorations spread across the living room floor near the Christmas tree with lights blinking
You came up behind me and wrapped those strong arms around my waist
“You smell like evergreen pine”, I giggled to you.
That voice of yours was ever relaxing to my ears, “I helped place some wreaths around the front of the store”.
“Honey, you know that scent is something that I adore”, I couldn’t resist inhaling deeply. I turned around and we kissed, for we never lost the magic of this season
Time for reflection, time for renewal
Our clothes went the way of summer, as if disappeared under the glisten of the rainbow of illumination’s glow
My breasts and my hips were adored by your hands and lips
Never selfish with my desire to make you know how I feel about being with you
Right hand of mine caressed your hip and aroused asset, as my lips met your mark
So good, so right, this is such a special night
Christmas Eve came and so did we
Bodies reclined against the piles of red and green satin ribbons was our warm reverie
Within a week a new 365 is going to begin for us
Sounds of carolers down the avenues of this city that never sleeps kept us abuzz
I kissed you and whispered my thanks for your loving me so much
You smiled and said you loved the way I could capture your jingle bells in a clutch
Oh yeah, Santa, I can be naughty in that way and such
No box wrapped in ribbons so fine could ever be compared to you
I believe in miracles and now here we are together under twinkling Christmas lights
Some may wonder how long can a person wait for whatever Santa brings
From the first time we made love to this night of ensued joy, we know in our hearts that it isn’t a given
We know that magic of love’s dreams never dies or fades
You and I together are the bee’s knees
Happy New Year, baby!
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About The Author: A.H. Scott is a poet and essayist based in New York City and senior contributor to Tony Ward’s blog. For additional articles by A.H. Scott, click here: https://tonywarderotica.com/a-h-scott-night-angel/
Shanell Verandez at the bar, Rittenhouse Grill, Philadelphia wearing KVaughn, Winter collection 2022.
Text by Shanell Verandez, Copyright 2022
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The Creative Director of Drinks
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I proclaim myself the “Creative Director of Drinks, because not only do I consider myself as a mixologist, but more of an Artist. As a bartender a.k.a mixologist a.k.a “C.D.O.D”, I am directing people’s vibes with my creative elixirs I refer to as “liquid babies” that will be sure to delight your senses! I am that creative…I have stirring it up behind the bar since 1996. Now back to the present, ‘Tis the season to be Jolly! What a better way to introduce some of my holiday “liquid babies” edition? Here are three of my favs to pop up the holidays! Cheers!
Holidaze Pop
This is a nice, crisp, slightly sweet flavor to soothe the soul.
Grand Mariner (2ozs.)
Mango or Pineapple juice (1 oz.)
Dry Brut Champagne
Orange slice
Build Grand Marnier, mango or pineapple juice in a flute glass, then balance champagne. Garnish with an orange slice and enjoy!
Black Kiss
This liquid baby is for the baby is for the bold daredevil. These are the people ready to start the new year now! It is a sweet, bold blackberry saturated cocktail with an orange sage bourbon finish.
Bourbon (2 ozs.)
Cointreau (1/2 oz)
Simple syrup (3/4 oz)
3 blackberries
1 sage leaf
Orange peel
Silk Martini
Ciroc Coconut vodka (2ozs)
Kahlua(3/4 oz)
Frangelica(1/3oz)
Half/ Half cream
Chocolate syrup
Coconut flakes
In a 16 oz glass mixer, fill with ice, than mix vodka, kahlua, frangelica and cream together, shake and pour into a frosted martini glass garnished with chocolate syrup inside and top with a sprinkle of coconut flakes… Enjoy!
This liquid baby holds a special place in my heart, I have been shaking this cocktail since 2005, when I entered this one in an bartending competition and won first place. It is a sweet, creamy chocolate, coconut twist paradise that will make you forget that ol’ egg nog! Heck…
All three liquid babies will make you even forget that ol’ mistletoe too! ‘It’s the season from Yours Truly Behind the Bar!
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Shanell’s wearing KVaughn Winter Collection. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2022
IT’S OFFICIAL: NEWLY RELEASED GOVERNMENT REPORT SAYS UFO EXPOSURE HARMFUL
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A government report finished in 2010, but classified until this year says UFO contact can have serious health effects. Witnesses to close encounters have experienced radiation burns, brain damage, perceived time suspension, and a wide variety of other effect, some of them ‘supernatural.’
The formerly top.secret report was prepared by the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a secret program that studied UFO encounters. The existence of this $ 22 million program was revealed by Luis Elizondo, its former head, in 2017, but it has taken until now for the Defense Intelligence Agency to release part of its report in response to a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by news media.
The report classifies reports of UFO encounters, including ones accompanied by other ‘paranormal’ events, such as sightings of ghosts, bigfoot type creatures, spirits, and other phenomena, often combined with effects such as abduction, paralysis, eye injuries, electrical shocks, sexual encounters with ‘aliens,’ permanent healing, and others.
The report compiled 42 cases of adverse medical effects from patients’ medical files and 300 from ‘unpublished’ cases. 1,500 pages of the report were released as a result of the FOIA request.
The report is titled ‘Anomalous Acute And Subacute Field Effects on Human and Biological Tissues.’ Note the use of the word ‘Field,’ which assumes that UFOs are accompanied by some sort of magnetic/electrical/gravitational/quantum mechanical/etc. field.
“Classified information exists that is highly pertinent to the subject of this study and only a small part of the classified literature has been released” the report states. So much for ‘full disclosure!’.
Attached to the report is a list of physiological effects experienced by those who have come in contact with UFOs/UAPs.
Among these effects are apparent abductions (129 cases), electromagnetic effects on vehicles (77 cases), perceived time loss (75 cases), burns (41 cases), force field effects (18), and ‘alien’ sexual encounters (5 cases).
In an interview with GQ magazine (UK), Elizondo stated, “I’ve got to be careful, I can’t speak too specifically, but one might imagine that you get a report from a pilot, ‘Lue, it’s really weird. I was flying and I got close to this thing and I came back home and it was like I got sunburn. I was red for four days.’ Well that’s a sign of radiation. That’s not a sunburn, it’s a radiation burn.”
My comment: that’s like recent reports of Russian soldiers who worked digging ditches inside the ‘hot zone’ at Chernobyl experiencing the same effects.
Elizondo also said a pilot who got even closer would say, ‘Lue, I’m in the hospital. I’ve got symptoms that are indicative of microwave damage, including internal injuries, and even in my brain there’s some morphology there.’ and then you might get somebody who gets really close and says, ‘Lue, it’s really bizarre. It felt like I was only there for five minutes, but when I looked at my watch 30 minutes went by, but I only used five minutes worth of fuel. How is that possible?’ “
Elizondo speculates that these effects have ‘something to do with warping of space time.’
The program rated encounters on a scale. AN1 has no lasting physical effects, AN3 comes with “associated entities such as ghosts, yetis, spirits, elves, and other ‘mythical/legendary entities.’ AN5s are those associated with injuries and deaths.
Former Senator Harry Reid asked for the report to remain secret in letters recently released by the Pentagon, because ‘Officials said that the UFOs are ‘from an unknown provinence that may be a threat to United States interest.’
Reid stated the secret program had identified ‘several highly sensitive, unconventional aerospace technologies requiring extraordinary protection.’
In November, the Pentagon announced the creation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), that will work across the Department of Defense and the entire US government ‘to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in Special Use Aerospace, and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security,’ according to a press release from the Department of Defense. It will be part of office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, currently Ronald S. Moultrie. This action was directed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
Does this mean that the era of official denial that the US government is interested in UFOs is finally over? We can all hope so. I’m not holding my breath, but just maybe we’re one tiny step closer to full disclosure. That’s long overdue.
Following in my father’s footsteps, I have studied UFOs since the 1960s, regarded as a disillusioned crackpot by many. It feels very good to finally be vindicated.
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About The Author: Bob Shell is a professional photographer, author and former editor in chief of Shutterbug Magazine. He is currently serving a 35 year sentence for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Marion Franklin, one of his former models. He is serving the 15th year of his sentence at Pocahontas State Correctional Facility, Virginia. To read Bob Shell’s, first essay on civil war, click here: https://tonywarderotica.com/bob-shell-some-prison-thoughts/
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