Shanell Verandez at the bar, Rittenhouse Grill, Philadelphia wearing KVaughn, Winter collection 2022.
Text by Shanell Verandez, Copyright 2022
.
The Creative Director of Drinks
.
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!
.
Shanell’s wearing KVaughn Winter Collection. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2022
IT’S OFFICIAL: NEWLY RELEASED GOVERNMENT REPORT SAYS UFO EXPOSURE HARMFUL
.
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.
.
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/
I hope I don’t offend, but I have a high disdain for sex…. I am an Asexual Being. At times this has caused a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings towards others including myself. One would wonder… What does this stem from? What has now caused me to embrace a life of Asexuality? Shall we begin? I was a very horny little girl, I was fascinated with my tiny breasts and would always pose nude in mirrors any chance I got and used to hump my stuffed teddy bears, and pillowcase edges.
Sometimes at night my parents would come home and find me naked in their bed with a smile on my face. I would even flirt around with my Uncles ( one paternal, one maternal) they were only two years older than me as well as some of my female friends (remember I am fascinated with breasts) and I had some very developed female friends. I was trying just about anything to relieve my sexual tension as a young girl. Then I became menstrual at 11 and my Mother (whom to this day I still have an intense strained toxic relationship with) went bonkers. I thought I was dying because of her reaction to my panties. She didn’t explain to me what was happening to my body, I had to get the lesson from my Aunt.
Throughout my teens, I started to feel ashamed and shy about sex, because my Mom would constantly accuse me of having sex and even would “check” my panties after a slumber party or events to smell or see if I had sex. Then I discovered sex games, spin the bottle, etc and almost lost my virginity to a cute mixed neighborhood boy in his backyard, but he couldn’t find my opening.
My Mom at one point even let me take a boyfriend but I refused to have sex with him because I now wanted to be the good girl who wasn’t a pregnant statistic in the neighborhood, so I focused more heavily on school, sports and music. I had no more time for human interaction, nor intimacy. I kept my virginity until I was 20 years old and lost it to a narcissist, abusive mixed East Indian man boy. I will finish that relationship right there, he doesn’t deserve anymore space. After that sexual experience, I started to attract the same shitty men with the same intentions in mind… Hit it then Leave.
I started to realize that sex to me is meaningless and serves no purpose in my life. At the same time, I admire people who embrace their sensuality and are sexually free. Believe me, I have had my share of sexual encounters from being a Dom at the Hellfire club , Voyuerism, Ménage a Trois and Tantra. Maybe I was exposed to the wrong people at those times but it made me realize what type of pleasure I want and don’t want. As an Asexual Being, people wonder… How do I please myself? Toys Toys Toys they are a Godsend. Maybe one day my sexual drive will come back on high gear and I will be back on the intimacy trail with some lucky guy…
Stay Tuned…..
.
Editor’s Note: This is Shanell Verandez first sitting with Tony Ward for the Vixen’s series. To see all of the work to date from the new series, click here: https://tonyward.com/new-work-the-vixens-series/
Now photographers are being singled out by the ‘thought police.’ According to a new ‘Oppressive Language List’ put out by the administration at Brandeis University, we’re no longer supposed to say we ‘shot’ a photo, did a photo ‘shoot’, or took a ‘shot’ at something. We’re not supposed to say we ‘triggered’ a camera or a flash, because the words ‘shoot,’ ‘shot,’ ‘trigger,’ etc., all have gun associations.
This is not just for photographers, they say. We’re also not supposed to say ‘killing it’ for doing well at something.Australians will have to no longer use ‘shoot through’ as slang for dying.Apparently, guns are such nasty, evil things, and all references to them, even oblique, must be expunged from our language.
Now, I’m not a gun fanatic, like people I know who have personal arsenals, but before my arrest, I did have a Remington single-shot, bolt-action .22 rifle, a single-barrel .410 gauge shotgun, and a 9 mm semiautomatic Beretta pistol. The shotgun was a gift from my grandfather who used to go dove hunting with it until he was shamed into quitting hunting by members of his congregation. You see, he was a Methodist minister and some of his flock disapproved of a minister hunting. The only times I ever fired it were to shoot at tin cans I threw into the air. I’m not a hunter, but I am open minded enough not to hassle friends who are. This world has room.for both.
My rifle and pistol were both gifts from my father. I used them only for target practice, and became a pretty good shot. Both are being held for me by a friend until I can get my ridiculous conviction overturned.
I’m not in favor of government gun control, because I’ve lived in countries that have it, and my harmless plinking away at targets would have been very difficult, or impossible there.
The purpose of the United States Constitution and its Amendments is to limit government, not empower it. Those wise founders of this republic had lived under repressive monarchy and never wanted it rearing its ugly head here.
But, right now as a convicted felon, if I get out I can’t own any guns, I can’t exercise that right granted to me, not by government, but by the Constitution.
I was convicted in state court. Gun ownership is a Federal right. Will someone please explain to me how a state can trump the Federal Constitution. The same goes for voting in Federal elections, which I can’t do now. All citizens were given rights by the Bill of Rights, which was added to the Constitution to spell out our rights and guarantee them against government intrusion. Somehow those guarantees have been diluted.
A great man once shouted, “Give me liberty or give me death!” We got the latter.
.
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-censorship-rears-its-ugly-head-in-virginia/
Tonight, June 14, 2022, I got a publication disapproval notice for the June issue of ‘Rolling Stone.’ A very good friend recently gave me a subscription and this was my first issue on that subscription.
It was disapproved for “Material that contains nudity. The showing (human or cartoon) of the male or female genitals, pubic area, female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of the areola, or male or female buttocks with less than a full opaque covering of the anus.”
I photographed nudes starting in the 1960s for more than forty years. I’ve seen countless female breasts. Seeing one now is somehow going to cause me harm? And note that it’s only seeing female breasts that will hopelessly corrupt me! I can see topless photos of Vladimir Putin day in and day out. Men have nipples and areolae, too!
I remember seeing an article years ago featuring a number of closeup photos of nipples, challenging the reader to identify which were male and which were female. It was impossible to tell. As I recall, one or two weren’t even human.
Sexual discrimination is illegal, so how does the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) get away with having such a blatantly sexist policy? Are we living in some restrictive theocracy. Will the VDOC next impose Sharia Law?
The magazine was also disapproved for “Material that depicts, describes, or promotes gang bylaws, initiations, organizational structure, codes or other gang-related activity or association.”
I’m a 75 year old white man. I’m going to join a gang??? Wonder if there’s one called ‘Hell’s Geezers?’ Is there a southwest Virginia chapter?
The man who signed the disapproval is the ‘OM’ the same man who recently disapproved ‘The Week’, my weekly news magazine, for showing gang symbols. Fairly new on that job, I think. Maybe he should consider relocating to Iran. There are probably many jobs open there for censors.
‘Rolling Stone’ contains important political articles and stories about culture. It is often quoted in other media. It is a highly influential journal that I’ve been reading since the 1960s and often features cutting edge photography.
I plan to contact Rolling Stone’s legal people. Maybe they would like to slap the VDOC down for ignoring the US Constitution. The US Supreme Court has held that freedom of the press contains the right to read. Censorship is unconstitutional! It must be stopped wherever it rears its slimy, reeking head!
.
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 13th 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-my-photographic-philosophy/
Text by Shanell Verandez, Copyright 2022
! 
