Growing up in the Bay Area, Fleet Week was a big deal for male teenagers. Being in the Navy, Rosemary took her sons, and our two best friends to an event, and we ended up on a submarine. The Theory that James Bond was arrested and spent time on Alcatraz – is blowing my mind! Rena Easton and I spent two nights in a tent in a backyard in Oakland. She would later marry Admiral Ian Easton. The Eastons inspired me to author my James Bond novel ‘The Royal Janitor’ starring Victoria Rosemond Bond the granddaughter of James Bond.
I am kin to Ian Fleming via my cousin, Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, who was married to Secretary of the Navy, John Warner. Today I am firmly rooted in all the myths surrounding James Bond and Ian Fleming. Victoria Bond kept having dreams about a Ghost Fleet, and, today there exists a – Ghost Bond! The fleet – is in! I am – VICTORIOUS!
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
The Old California Barrel Company | Rosamond Press
San Francisco Fleet Week | SF Fleet Week | Bay Area Events (fleetweeksf.org)
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) — The City by the Bay and Mayor London Breed on Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of San Francisco’s Fleet Week festivities.
Breed and Fleet Week representatives were joined by federal, state and local emergency management officials in welcoming the Fleet back to San Francisco. Representatives from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard will also join Breed at Crane Cove Park.
The Rock | Fan Theories Wiki | Fandom
The Rock
The Rock is a 1996 action film that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island and in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was directed by Michael Bay, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. The film is dedicated to Simpson, who died five months before its release. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing at the 69th Academy Awards.
The Theory
That Sean Connery’s convict “John Mason” – the only man to ever escape Alcatraz – is actually an older version of Connery-era 007.
The theory goes that in the mid 1960s, famed British secret agent James Bond was caught spying in the United States, and locked up in infamous island prison Alcatraz (aka The Rock) on espionage charges.
The plot sees the FBI enlist the help of Connery’s character (and his knowledge of Alcatraz), to help Nicolas Cage’s scientist thwart a group of ex-marines bent to destroying San Francisco with chemical weapons, using the prison as a base.
Aside from the obvious fact that legendary 007 actor Connery plays both characters, numerous references are dropped throughout ‘The Rock’ to Mason’s shadowy spying past.
Grouchy FBI director Womack introduces Mason as man who was locked up 33 years ago (which would have been the peak of Connery’s Bond career), is SAS trained, and a professional escape artist:
“[He’s] a British national, incarcerated on Alcatraz in 1962… escaped in ’63,” growls Womack. “This man has no identity, not in the United States or Great Britain. He does not exist. Understand?”
This timeframe matches up with Connery first donning the Bond tuxedo for ‘Dr. No’ in 1962, but ‘The Rock’ implies that he was captured again soon after his Alcatraz escape – though Connery was still playing 007 until 1971 (or 1983 if you count ‘Never Say Never Again’).
Later, when Womack is pressed to give up who their mysterious man is, he reveals Mason was a British operative who stole secret government files from influential FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, but was captured at the Canadian boarder.
“Of course the British claimed they’d never heard of him. And we held him without trial, until he gave up the microfilm. But he never did,” admits the FBI boss.
“This man knows our most intimate secrets from the last half-century,” he adds. “The alien landing at Roswell, the truth about the JFK assassination. Mason’s angry. He’s lethal. He’s a trained killer. And he is the only hope that we have got.”
Mason himself, played by a then 65-year-old Connery, even boasts to Nicolas Cage’s character: “I was trained by the best… British Intelligence.”
And, in a throwaway gag, the script parodies Connery’s infamous ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ one-liner, when he replies to Cage’s introduction “I’m Stanley Goodspeed”, with a cheeky “but of course you are…”
So, is Sean Connery actually playing an ageing James Bond, who was abandoned by us Brits for 30 years? Or, is it just wishful thinking from those of us who wanted to see one last outing for the original 007?
There are so many references in the script that at the very least the writers must have been aware of the Bond parallels, and were just having fun with it.
Brilliantly, ‘The Rock’ also ties in with one of cinema’s greatest ever fan theories – that “James Bond” is just a codename, inherited by numerous MI6 agents over the years (allowing for different actors to play him within the same movie timeline).
So when Womack tells us Connery’s captured spy “doesn’t exist”, it’s because he doesn’t. James Bond never did…
The Old California Barrel Company
Posted on March 11, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
The Royal Janitor
by
John Presco
Copyright 2021
Victoria found the old California Barrel Company in a old phone directory. There were two of them. One was located in the Dogpatch area south of San Francisco, and the other offshore of Belmont on the really old Wharf Road. Making their way carefully down the rickety wharf to the house that sat at the end of it, they passed a chicken coop. Just as they were about to knock at the door, it flew open, and there stood a jovial Santa-looking gentleman in his seventies!
“I knew I was going to have company today! My name is William Stuttmeister Janke, the proprietor of the original California Barrel Company. I’m going to have to fix my ladder and get up there and freshen up my fading sign. Are you looking to buy some barrels?”
“No thanks!,” said Victoria. “We came to talk to you!”
“How did you know we were coming?” asked Starfish. “And why are you wearing a Communist Russian flag?”
“Oh good! Glad to meet someone that brought their curiosity with them. I’m the only living augur in the world. If your chickens lay the big end of their egg facing north, it means there is someone coming to pay you a visit. I wear this flag to to keep the gossipmongers at safe distance. There are some vicious busybodies these days, and they respect no one’s boundaries. Many of them are Christians who insist it is their right – and duty – to discover if you are one of them. They can see me coming a mile off. They check me off their mental list, and even give me a quick smile out the corner of their mouth as if to say;
“At least one of them is honest!”
“I’m a Christian! Miriam Starfish declared, while taking a tiny step backwards to brace herself for what may come next.”
“Yes. I know!”
“How do you know?” Demanded Starfish!
“You’re little earing caught a ray of morning light! I felt I was transported to the Outremer and was Saladin gazing at the Crusader Army coming at him across the wilderness like John the Baptist.”
“Careful, old man, I will not tolerate blasphemy in my presence!” said Starfish with a scowl.
“Oh good. We got a feisty one this morning. Here’s a fishing pole. Let’s go to the end of the pier and see what we can catch. I’m a biblical scholar and know everything about the Crusades. He was a Kurd, you know?”
“What do you know about the Bohemian Club?” piped Victoria, as she took her borrowed pole. “We are looking for the origin. We want the list of the original members.”
“You are not alone!” Here, reach in that bucket and grab a live shrimp.”
Yesterday I purchased californiabarrelcompany.com. This is my e-mail address
johnpresco@californiabarrelcompany.com
The name of my think tank is
THE CALFORNIA BARREL COMPANY that in theory is located in Belmont California. I will purchase a P.O. Box. A contractor associated with Meg Whitman took my copyrighted name of the company my great grandfather, William Broderick, worked for. Members of the Belmont Historical Society gave me the Bum’s Rush and warned me I was violating their copyright by posting a old photograph of my great grandfather, William Janke. Consider this a Copyright War. Have you ever seen the movie ‘The Mouse That Roared’?
“Jerusalem has come!”
(2) Jerusalem Has Come – Kingdom of Heaven (2005). – YouTube
(2) The Mouse that Roared TRailer – YouTube
uly 3, 2020
Application Summary
Potrero Power Station
(For Commission consideration on July 16, 2020)
Permit Application Number: 2019.006.00
Applicants: California Barrel Company, LLC, and Port of San Francisco
Project Description: Develop a 29-acre residential neighborhood, including a
waterfront park.
Location: In the Bay and within the 100-foot shoreline band, at Illinois
Street, between 22nd Street and 23rd Street, in the City and
County of San Francisco,
Application Filed Complete: June 2, 2020
Deadline for Commission Action: August 31, 2020
Staff Contact: Yuri Jewett (415/352-3616; yuriko.jewett@bcdc.ca.gov)
Figure 1. The project site is located on the Southeast San Francisco Waterfront, at a former PG&E power plant.Potrero Power Station Project Page 2
Application Summary on Permit Application No. 2019.006.00 July 3, 2020
Project Overview
Project Description
The proposed project would redevelop an approximately 29-acre formerly industrial site along
San Francisco’s Southern Waterfront, with a variety of uses including residential, commercial
office, life/science office, retail, community facilities, light industrial, a boutique hotel, parks,
outdoor recreation, and public assembly uses. At build-out, approximately 11,335 residents and
employees would use the site daily, in addition to members of the public.
The project involves work both within and outside the Commission’s permitting jurisdiction. The
majority of the site, including the residential and commercial development components of the
project, are located outside the Commission’s permitting jurisdiction. Within the Commission’s
100-foot shoreline band, the project would involve construction of a Waterfront Park and other
Hail Britannia
Posted on August 9, 2013 by Royal Rosamond Press
There is some indication I am being examined in cyber-space. Buster Howe has Ian Easton’s old job, which appears to employ American citizens in the defense of the British Empire. Sir Easton captained the aircraft carrier in photo above. Rena has not come forth. Is she being employed by the Queen in some manner – who is surrounded by beautiful women ready to defend Her Majesty and Britannia. Rena must own dual citizenship. I believe Easton helped design the cote of arms seen above.
I have an e-mail from Rena’s schoolmate admonishing me for turning Rena into a goddess. Imagine if there was no Art. What would cyber-space look like. I have found my beloved Muse. They call her Britannia. Got you – beautiful! How many pedestals have you stood on?
Jon Presco
The British Defence Staff – US is led by the Defence Attaché and has responsibility for military and civilian MOD personnel located both within the Embassy and in 34 states across the USA.
Early portraits of the goddess depict Britannia as a beautiful young woman, wearing the helmet of a centurion, and wrapped in a white garment with her right breast exposed. She is usually shown seated on a rock, holding a spear, and with a spiked shield propped beside her. Sometimes she holds a standard and leans on the shield. On another range of coinage, she is seated on a globe above waves: Britain at the edge of the (known) world.
Britannia is an ancient term for Roman Britain and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain; however, by the 1st century BC Britannia came to be used for Great Britain specifically. In AD 43 the Roman Empire began its conquest of the island, establishing a province they called Britannia, which came to encompass the parts of the island south of Caledonia (roughly Scotland). The native Celtic inhabitants of the province are known as the Britons. In the 2nd century, Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, armed with a trident and shield and wearing a Corinthian helmet.
As Defence Attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, Major General Buster Howes OBE is focused on operations and contingency planning, defence intelligence, cyber and space, service personnel, defence education and doctrine.
The RCDS Mission is:
“To prepare senior officers and officials of the United Kingdom and other countries and future leaders from the private and public sectors for high responsibilities in their respective organisations, by developing their analytical powers, knowledge of defence and international security, and strategic vision”.[2]
RCDS forms a part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. In fulfilment of its mission, the college runs one course a year, from September to July.[3] Each course is attended by a maximum of 90 full-time members, around one-third from UK and two-thirds from overseas.[3] Attendees are military officers of Colonel/Brigadier or equivalent rank but also include civil servants, diplomats, police officers and representatives from the private sector.[3] All have been selected to attend the course on the strength of their potential to progress to a high position within their profession.[3]
The course composition has been progressively widened to include members from over 40 different countries.[3]
Since 2001, course members have to option to study in a joint programme that leads to a MA in International Security and Strategy from the King’s College London.[3][4]
Navy officials briefed a group of British Naval officers on key U.S. Navy technological programs and the potential for new science and technology collaboration during a tour here Feb. 13.
U.K. Royal Navy Commodore Alex Burton led the delegation of British officers who toured Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) laboratories and test sites for overviews on programs ranging from directed energy weapons and the Littoral Combat Ship Gun Mission Module to the Electromagnetic Railgun and the Potomac River Test Range.
“Tightening budgets and technology advancements drive us to seek more collaborative opportunities with our international partners,” said NSWCDD Chief Technology Officer June Drake. “Through the years, our close working relationship with the U.K., fostered by our U.K. Personnel Exchange Program officers, has been key to continued discussions as we seek to define future technical collaborative efforts.”
In 1922 a cabinet committee under Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, recommended the formation of the College.[1] The college was founded in 1927 as the Imperial Defence College and was located at 9 Buckingham Gate until 1939.[1] Its objective at that time was the defence of the Empire.[1] In 1946, following the end of World War II, the college reopened at Seaford House, Belgrave Square and members of the United States forces started attending courses.[1] It was renamed the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1970 and in 2007 the Queen and Prince Philip visited the college.[1]
The British Defence Staff – US, which was previously known as British Defence Staff (Washington),[1] is the home of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) in the United States of America and its purpose is to serve the interests of Her Majesty’s Government in the USA. The British Defence Staff – US is led by the Defence Attaché and has responsibility for military and civilian MOD personnel located both within the Embassy and in 34 states across the USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Triumph_(R16)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/voeo0Oiox-c?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
British Defence Staff – US alongside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments collectively serve the interests of Her Majesty’s Government in the USA.
The British Defence Staff in the United States is led by the Defence Attaché Major-General Francis Hedley Robertson “Buster” Howes, CB, OBE. The Defence Attaché is the British Ambassador’s senior adviser on defence issues, and as Head of the British Defence Staff in the United States has responsibility over 385 military and civilian MOD personnel located both within the Embassy and in 34 states across the USA. The Defence Attaché is drawn rotationally from each of the three Services.
As Defence Attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, Major General Buster Howes OBE is focused on operations and contingency planning, defence intelligence, cyber and space, service personnel, defence education and doctrine.
Buster was educated at Christ’s Hospital and York and London Universities and was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1982. He initially served as a troop commander in 42 Commando RM, deploying for the first time on operations in Northern Ireland. After training a recruit troop, he qualified as a Mountain Leader and was then posted to Recce Troop, 45 Commando RM. Following a stint as AdC to Major General Training of Reserve and Special Forces RM, he was appointed to the 2nd Division, USMC, as a Regimental Operations Officer (for the First Gulf War). He subsequently commanded Charlie Company, 40 Commando RM; Commando Training Wing at CTCRM; 42 Commando RM (for the Second Gulf War); and 3 Commando Brigade.
Buster has worked in personnel policy in the Fleet HQ as well as having been a planner in the Rapid Reaction Force Operations Staff of UNPROFOR in Bosnia and a strategist in the Naval Staff Directorate in MOD. He has attended the Naval Staff College, the Higher Command and Staff Course, the Royal College of Defence Studies, and the Pinnacle Course. Additionally, he has served as a Divisional Director for ICSC(L) at the JSCSC and as COS to Commander Amphibious Forces (CAF). He was Chief Joint Co-ordination and Effects in HQ ISAD X in Kabul, followed by a post as Director Naval Staff, in 2007. He served as Head of Overseas Operations in MOD before being appointed Commandant General Royal Marines/CAF in February 2010. For 15 months up to 1 August, Buster Howes commanded Operation ATLANTA, the EU Counter Piracy Mission in the Indian Ocean.
Captain of Deal Castle, President of the Royal Marines Mountaineering Club, and Vice President of the RNRM Children’s Charity, Buster has three daughters and his interests range from teaching them table manners and repairing the things they break, to mountaineering, gardening, art and ideas. He recently gave up water skiing.
British Embassy
Washington
British Defence Staff
USA
Defence Attaché, USA
A Defence Attaché is a member of the armed forces who serves in an embassy as a representative of their country’s defence establishment abroad. The Defence Attaché is responsible for bilateral military and defence relations.
BDS-US Command Group
WASHINGTON — In what is believed to be the first time since the 1940s, the entire British defense staff will be here March 25 to discuss long-range strategy and the impact of budget cuts with their U.S. counterparts, according to U.S. and British sources.
The meeting is reminiscent of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, when British and American military leaders joined forces during World War II. Both nations are undergoing significant budgetary reductions and will continue to rely on each other in future years for support. Understanding what capabilities will survive and won’t is essential to long-term strategic planning.
Easton joined the Royal Navy in 1931 and qualified as a pilot at the start of World War II in which he saw active service on aircraft carriers.[1] On 4 January 1941, flying a Fairey Fulmar of 803 Squadron from HMS Formidable during a raid on Dakar he force landed, with his aircrewman Naval Airman James Burkey and was taken prisoner and held by the Vichy French at a camp near Timbuktu until released in November 1942.[2] He was appointed Assistant Director of the Tactical and Weapons Policy Division at the Admiralty in 1960 and was seconded to the Royal Australian Navy as Captain of HMAS Watson in 1962.[1] He went on to be Naval Assistant to the Naval Member of the Templer Committee on Rationalisation of Air Power in 1965, Director of Naval Tactical and Weapons Policy Division at the Admiralty in 1966 and Captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph in 1968.[1] After that he was made Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy) in 1969, Flag Officer for the Admiralty Interview Board in 1971 and Head of British Defence Staff and Senior Defence Attaché in Washington D. C. in 1973.[1] He last posting was as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1976: he commissioned armourial bearings for the College which were which were presented during a visit by the Queen in November 1977.[3] He retired in 1978.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Triumph_(R16)
The Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies was a UK senior serving military officer between 1972 and 2001. The post rotated through the three branches of the armed forces in turn. In 1971 the old Imperial Defence College became the Royal College of Defence Studies. In 1991, the post was downgraded to three-star, and then in 2001, it was opened up to competition through public advertisement. Subsequent incumbents have as yet all been senior retired military officers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_Kingdom)
British America’s Cup Challenge (United Kingdom)[edit]
From the Royal Thames Yacht Club, White Crusader was designed by Ian Howlett and was a traditional 12 metre design evolved from the DeSavery Lionhart ’83 boat of the previous Americas Cup event. However, White Crusader II was a radical design and designed by David Hollam. This second boat was used as a trial horse against White Crusader, but the team eventually decided to use the more conventional designed boat. Tank testing was carried out at Southampton University and HMS Haslar. The deadline for acceptance of challenges was 1 April 1986 and Admiral Sir Ian Easton wrote his own personal cheque for $16,000 as an entry fee deposit. Harold Cudmore acted as skipper-tactician and starting helmsman who then handed over the helm to Chris Law for the remainder of each races. Both boats were originally named simply Crusader One and Two but the “White” part of their names were added when millionaire Graham Walker (Of White Horse whiskey fame) gave heavy sponsorship to the British challengers at the last minute before the event started so the “White” was added to their names.
Rosamond Press 
Reblogged this on Rosamond Press and commented:
I posted Red Rock Sailor on October 6, 2021 not knowing how ‘No Time To Die’ ends! This was posted on Oct. 7.
https://rosamondpress.com/2021/10/06/the-red-rock-sailor/