OAKLAND BROS ALE
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Victor Hugo Presco | 45 |
| Melba Presco | 31 |
| Victor W Presco | 9 |
I am following behind – but keeping up! Mt father and grandfather did live in Oakland together. I’ve been communicating with Peter Shapiro and Christine about a business adventure.
Above is Sick Rosemary’s favorite photo of me and Mark not getting along. I want it on by label. Melba and the two Victors lvied on 3038 Sylvan below Joaquin Miller’s house, and near Peralta Creek.
John Presco
https://mapcarta.com/W437067743
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3034-Sylvan-Ave-Oakland-CA-94602/24770725_zpid/
West Oakland launches new night market to revitalize the neighborhood
By Amber Lee
Published June 7, 2024 5:23am PDT
javascript:false
New night market kicks off in West Oakland
West Oakland is home to a new night market that launched on Thursday. Organizers say it’s the first in a series of five and it’s more than a monthly event.
OAKLAND, Calif. – West Oakland is home to a new night market that launched Thursday night.
Organizers said it’s the first in a series of five that will be held monthly through October.
Quiz: What kind of traveler are you?Ally|
They said the outdoor markets are more than a monthly event.
Many people said West Oakland is often overlooked and neglected.
Organizers said the night market was a preview of things to come that were designed to revitalize the area.
A live band performed at the inaugural event on Thursday to help West Oakland get its groove back.
“It’s real exciting, what’s happening in Oakland. Sometimes, it gets a bad rap. It’s nice when the whole community is together,” said Jaime Kwan, who lives in the area with her husband and 11-month-old son.
The Oakland Ballers, playing just steps away at Raimondi Park, brought some fans to the night market before attending a game.
Oakland resident Mark Lecker was among them.
“Oakland needs it. We need a good shot in the arm and this is providing it,” he said.
javascript:false
Almanac creates Ballers beer
Almanac, an East Bay company, created a new beer for the Oakland Ballers.
Almanac Beer Company was among 18 beverage and food vendors at the night market.
It has a brick and mortar presence in Alameda.
Owner Damian Fagan said he plans to open up shop at the new food hall that is being built right behind his stand.
The brewery will be the anchor tenant.
When asked if he had any safety concerns about being situated in this area, Fagan replied:”The short answer is not really. We looked at this as nothing more than a place that really
needs to have more resources, so we wanted to be part of that.”
Joe Ernst, owner and developer of Prescott Market, brought a KTVU crew inside the food hall that is under construction.
He said there would be seven other tenants in addition to Almanac to fill the 12,000-square-foot space inside the industrial building.
The food hall building is part of a larger campus which will house research and development for various companies.
“The food became a way to engage with the community. Oakland, West Oakland, has a very strong identity and the people here feel a very strong ownership of the community,” said Ernst.
Engaging the community at the night market included a mural that reflects this neighborhood, its history and its future.
Stacey Mufson said she and her husband are celebrating their 25th anniversary by enjoying what some described as the rebirth of West Oakland,
“My husband and I are just excited to be out on a beautiful day, enjoying our city,” she said.
The next night market is scheduled for July 11.
The food hall is expected to hold its grand opening at the end of the year or early 2025.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU.
Fairyland Is Alive With Music
Posted on September 19, 2023 by Royal Rosamond Press
I talked to a Belmont Attorney yesterday and he said he would take my case if her was not overloaded. We talked about our family history for almost a half hour. He believes I have a case and wants me to call back in two weeks. Below is my idea for a Musical Belmont, with revived Theme Park that resembles Fairyland.
John Presco
Sarsaparilla Pier
Psychedelic jazz ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra plays at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
The Sun Ra Arkestra is an American jazz group formed in the mid-1950s and led by keyboardist/composer Sun Ra until his death in 1993. The group is considered a pioneer of afrofuturism.[1][2] As of 2022, the Arkestra is led by saxophonist Marshall Allen, an Arkestra member since 1958, who is supported by more than a dozen other musicians.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Ra_Arkestra
Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland proves charming host for experimental music festival
Zack Ruskin September 17, 2023Updated: September 18, 2023, 7:04 pm
Avé Long dances to Spellling’s show at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
With the promise of whimsy around every corner, Through the Looking Glass was a brilliant testament to the power of placing live music in a proper setting.
In this case, the confines were none other than Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, which played host to a first-of-its-kind music festival on Saturday, Sept. 16. Curated by Chrystia “Tia” Cabral, who performs as the Oakland experimental pop act Spellling, in partnership with online travel magazine Atlas Obscura, the event was a bold new step for the amusement park, according to Children’s Fairyland Executive Director Kymberly Miller.
“Renting out the park in this capacity is a totally new thing for Fairyland,” Miller said. “As our park and organization continue to grow, we’re now able to support bigger events such as Through the Looking Glass.”
The Through the Looking Glass music festival took place at historic amusement park Children’s Fairyland in Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 16.Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
Built in 1950, the 10-acre Children’s Fairyland amusement park is credited as a source of inspiration for the original Disneyland and features work from numerous notable artists, including San Francisco sculptor Ruth Asawa and puppeteer (and voice of Yoda) Frank Oz.
For Cabral, producing the four-hour, all-ages event at the beloved family destination was a dream many years in the making. Recalling a 2019 interview with online music publication Pitchfork at Lake Merritt, Cabral noted “how much I would love to perform there one day.”
On Saturday night, that dream came to glorious fruition before a crowd of 1,650 revelers.
Psychedelic jazz ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra performs to a packed crowd at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at historic Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
Headlined by Cabral and her newly formed band, Spellling & the Mystery School, the festival featured an eclectic lineup that included performances from world-class whistler Molly Lewis, singer-songwriter (and new Bolinas resident) Sasami, and pioneering Afrofuturist jazz ensemble the Sun Ra Arkestra — presently led by 99-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen.
Utilizing five distinct stages spread across the park, the effect was nothing short of magical. Over in Old West Town, attendees danced to the beat as DJ Fat Tony spun gems from the upper window of the Fairyland Hotel, part of the area’s brightly decorated facades meant to evoke the spirit of bygone saloons and their cowboy clientele.
Psychedelic jazz ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra plays at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
For those seeking a more tranquil moment, improvisational composer Zachary James Watkins could be found conducting soothing sound experiments from within the cozy confines of Fairyland’s chapel.
Stationed across the grounds were also tarot readers, face painters and, for those who managed to find it, Dream Radio, a semisecret sound installation from Oakland underground multimedia collective Cone Shape Top subterraneously housed within the park’s Fairy Music Farm Tunnel.
At various fairy tale-themed locales, bartenders offered patrons the option to “candy crush” their cocktails with the addition of peach rings and other assorted sweets while couples gamely riding the Jolly Trolly on its slow, winding path giggled and grinned.
Encouraged to don fanciful outfits for the occasion, many attendees delivered with a bold array of looks that included someone dressed in a full-on pink furry suit complete with an oversize cat head.
Spellling performs at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 16.Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
If it felt like a bit of pixie dust was sprinkled on every facet of the festival, the sensation was arguably strongest while watching the night’s main performances. As an overflow crowd formed for Spellling’s set, some late arrivals found refuge in the crow’s nest and deck of Fairyland’s adjacent Jolly Roger pirate ship. Later, the alluring specter of Lewis’ ethereal whistling proved to pair perfectly with the darkened backdrop of Fairyland’s Emerald City Stage.
While catching a music festival at a child’s amusement park may not appeal to everyone, 41-year-old Josiah Espinoza had only rapturous praise.
“It was mystical and beautiful and just really, really special,” Espinoza said. “I grew up in Oakland and I’ve been coming here for like 20 years, first with my parents, then with my nieces. But tonight was something just totally out-of-this-world amazing.”
Psychedelic jazz ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra plays at the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
Cabral, 32, grew up nearby in Sacramento and first visited Children’s Fairyland in the 1990s. Since then she’s moved to Oakland and established a lauded career as a solo artist reputed for her dynamic voice and immense talent for production craft. Last month, she released her fourth studio album, “Spellling & the Mystery School.”
Recorded at Oakland’s Tiny Telephone Studios, the album consists of re-recordings of previous Spellling material that re-center Cabral’s voice in intimate new arrangements. In a sense, the album’s creation was a necessary precursor to Through the Looking Glass, as the addition of Cabral’s Mystery School band (which includes the Del Sol Quartet) has enabled her to perform songs in concert that were previously logistically unfeasible.
Spellling headlined the Through the Looking Glass music festival at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 16.Photo: Andria Lo/Special to The Chronicle
“I tend to have maniacal control issues about how my songs are supposed to sound or be delivered,” Cabral explained. “But despite my large insecurities about how everything would translate, everyone lent their own unique skills to the album, and it provided a real sense of relief, as a solo artist, to not have to scrutinize myself so much and to just let go.”
By 11 p.m., the experiment had concluded. As festivalgoers dressed in fairy wings and coated with fresh face paint made for the exits, the vision of Cabral serenading fans as the Jolly Trolly tooted its horn in the distance was proof that you’re never too old for dreams to come true.
Zack Ruskin is a freelance writer.
The Charlatans of Belmont
Posted on May 9, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
I am looking to form a band called ‘Belmont Charlatans’. I am looking for investors in The Rouge Dog Sarsaparilla Saloon.
I awoke from a dream early this morning. I was with Peter Shapiro, Keith Purvis, and, Christine Wandel. Peter was on this balcony hiding something. We confronted him. He accused us of hiding bottles under our shirts. Then, we caught Chris, slinking away. What does she got?
I lie there trying to go back to sleep, but could not. I began to study our history we made. Twelve years ago, Peter told me he used to play with the Charlatans, and considered Mike Wilhelm the guy who got it all started. He was very impressed with his guitar playing – as was Jerry Garcia. Rock Historians are saying the Charlatans set the scene for the Haight Ashbury and the Summer of Love.
All of a sudden, I am looking at the photograph of my kindred in Belmont, running a soda company – and a Summer Fun Theme Park. Look at what they are wearing. My kindred were the real thing, the Real McCoys, who are connected to William Ralston and William Sharon who made millions on the Comstock Load. Sharon built Virginia City. The Red Dog Saloon was built in the home that once belonged to Henry Comstock. You cant ask for better historic ambience – minus the drugs! My generation has grown up. We need a place to go that reminds us of our youth. The scene of the Sober Cowboy ordering a sarsaparilla is a classic and traditional scene that the City of Belmont can Brand.
hub.pdf (belmonthistoricalsociety.com)
What I see, is the building of Sarsaparilla Pier that would look like the building above – that is on the waterfront! Downtown Belmont is Deadsville, and not the good kind of dead. Rock Scully managed the Grateful Dead – and the Charlatans! I see a house band called ‘The Belmont Charlatans’ a take on the name for sellers of medicine oil and other healing drinks – which might have behind the name of this group that experimented with a wonder drug – when it was legal. The Charlatans played jug-band music and modern western. Selling alcohol is down on my list of things to do.
I see Sarsaparilla Pier as a destination for locals, and their guests who come to town. Heading to San Francisco is a chore these days, and, all the old sourdough flavor is gone. I see Belmont Sourdough Bread, Belmont Ice-cream and Yogurt shop, root beer floats, Belmont Sodas, Sushi bar, Belmont Kefir, and – Rougedog Coffee and Teas. Sure, why not Rougedog Hot Dogs!
Lord Hesketh at Belmont | Rosamond Press
This is where you bring your kids at the end of a hot summer day. Teenagers will come on The Date Shuttle that leaves from downtown. There will be a statue of Jack London. How about a statue of The Charlatans who I suspect got their name from the dealing of William Sharon and his gun toting mistress, Sarah Hill, who produced fake papers claiming she was his wife. If true, this would be Belmont’s band.
Above is a photograph of the Charlatans in front of the Hippodrome that was a showcase for the Barbary Coast where my grandfather, Victor Hugo Presco, was a professional gambler. I would like to see a schooner that sails to Crockett and back. How about a stage coach ride for newlyweds? My kin, Carl Janke, ran the stagecoach line, The Belmont Accommodations Company. William Janke opporated the Belmont Soda Company, and lived at 320 Haight Street for a time. He helped with the Turnverein Hall his Pioneer father built that is a model for Sarsaparilla Pier, as is the Janke theme park that may be the first such park in California – that may have inspired Disneyland.
My uncle owned Sam’s Anchor Café in Tiberon where scenes from the cult movie ‘The Second Coming of Suzanne’ were filmed. The director was in my art class. The Bigalows were good friends with the Keenes. I see a Keene Art Festival held on Sarsaparilla Pier. How many real artists have been tempted to create a historic work of fakery? Sailboats from Tiberon can dock in Belmont, and sailors do some shopping in the new boutiques.
Hey! How about a costume contest with skit?…..Will the real Keenes – please stand up!
I would like to see a Charlatan Court where folks can present their new ideas.
I just discovered there was a Carl Janke Day – and a street that was named after him! I am going to petition the Belmont City Government to get these markers – restored! What are people thinking? Most cities place historic markers – with pride! I have encountered Social Cleansing by certain citizens who labeled their Founding Pioneer Family – a public nuisance! This resembles a young gun slinger going after a famous sheriff. Consider Gunsmoke, and, Miss Kitty. What exactly was her job description? A thousand Westerns have been made where some folks behave badly, and some don’t. To wipe out the history of a Pioneer – put some bad historians – in power! I wonder if there is any un-claimed Janke land? I feel my High Noon Moment, coming! I will be linking this history with Black Mask author, Norbert Davis, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Bad Day At Belmont | Rosamond Press
One rude Belmont historian raves about the Warlocks playing out on the highway near Belmont. This is a big feather in her cap. On this day, with the pulp fiction song ‘The Shadow Knows’ I come home to Belmont to claim my rightful heritage! There is no threat of violence coming from me. Playing the Big Victim is the game of real charlatans.
How about building the afterdeck of the Lancaster Witch and conducting weddings? There can be the Ralston and Janke rooms at the Palace Hotel.
John Presco
President: Belmont Soda Works
Copyright 2021
Fermor, Bond, and Fleming | Rosamond Press
(32) The Charlatans: The Red Dog Saloon, Virginia City, Nevada: The Shadow Knows – YouTube
George Hunter of the Charlatans never shot Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, not even once. But in the spring of 1966, on the grounds of Rancho Olompali just north of San Francisco, Garcia had reason to believe Hunter was gunning for him, causing the great guitarist to royally freak out. The misunderstanding unfolded when Hunter decided to drop some LSD and bring a loaded .30-30 Winchester rifle to a party at the Dead’s new Marin County hangout. Hunter never intended to strike fear into the heart of his genial host, but when he did, he was so high that he began to panic—perhaps he had accidentally shot someone, if not Garcia, after all. It took a long bummer of a night, and three of Hunter’s closest friends, to shake that demon thought from his troubled mind.
“I said, ‘How would you like to be looking down the barrel of this thing?’”
You’ve probably never heard of the “Incident at Olompali,” as no one has called it since, and your awareness of the Charlatans is likely limited to seeing the band’s name on scores of vintage rock posters, alongside more familiar monikers such as Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Grateful Dead.
That’s too bad, because in their heyday, from 1965 to 1968, the Charlatans were a lot of people’s favorite band, thanks to a danceable mix of distinctively American musical genres—from the blues and rock to Western swing and jazz. Around the time of the Charlatans’ first paying gig, in June of 1965, the Grateful Dead were still playing pizza parlors as the Warlocks, Jefferson Airplane had yet to take off, Big Brother was a year away from handing Janis Joplin a microphone, and Quicksilver was not even a gleam in anyone’s eye. By 1966, the Charlatans had a record deal with the same label that had released the 1965 smash hit Do You Believe In Magic? by the Lovin’ Spoonful.
Copyright 2021
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Synonyms for charlatan include shyster, quack, or faker. Quack is a reference to quackery or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have actual medical training who purports to provide medical services.
Hieronymous Bosch paints a scene of a Renaissance mountebank fleecing credulous gamblers.
Sarsaparilla (soft drink) – Wikipedia
Sarsaparilla was popular in the United States in the 19th century. According to advertisements for patent medicines of the period, it was considered to be a remedy for skin and blood problems.[8] Ruth Tobias notes that it evokes images of “languid belles and parched cowboys“.[9]
Sarsaparilla is sometimes considered to be a type of root beer. There are dozens of brands of sarsaparilla made by microbreweries, mainly in the United States.[10]
In the North of England sarsaparilla is produced by Fitzpatrick’s, Britain’s last temperance bar, reflecting its former importance to the temperance movement there. Maine Soft Drinks, based in Northern Ireland, also produce the drink.
Cowboys drank sarsaparilla soda in the Old West! When you first hear “sarsaparilla,” you might think of soda too. This herb comes from the roots of a a woody vine called Smilax, which belongs to the Lily family. It’s still is used as a popular flavoring of cola and root beer in some countries. If you want to pronounce it out loud, just say “Sass-Parilla” to keep it easy.
Another cola flavoring – aside from sarsaparilla – was the coca leaf, which gives us cocaine. In 1885, Coca-Cola was initially put into marketplaces with trace amounts of cocaine, about 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of flavoring syrup. Coke wasn’t totally free of cocaine until 1929. That’s how they got the name … it was named it for its two medicinal ingredients, which were coca leaves and kola nuts.
In an old-time western, the good cowboy never ordered anything at a saloon but “sarsaparilla.”The bad guys would snicker, because it was like bellying up to the bar and demanding a root beer. In fact, sarsaparilla is one of the traditional flavorings of root beer, along with other roots such as pipsissewa, a euphoniously named variety of wintergreen. (True sarsaparilla is a tropical South American vine. The Old West barkeep probably served a drink made from wild sarsaparilla, a North American member of the ginseng family.)
Loading Zone (chickenonaunicycle.com)
“Trips Festival” (from _Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III_) (relix.com)
Then 24 years old, Scully had grown up in Carmel, Calif. His stepfather, Milton Mayer, was a well-known Quaker activist who had once hosted his own network radio show. After graduating from Earlham College in Indiana, Scully had attended San Francisco State, where he became involved in a series of massive civil rights demonstrations. During the summer of 1965, Scully had begun managing the Charlatans, a psychedelic band, who were doing an extended residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nev.
Scully finally saw the Grateful Dead perform for the first time at the Fillmore Acid Test on January 8, 1966. Although he told Owsley that the Dead were “extraordinarily ugly and would probably never make it commercially,” Scully also confessed that he had “never heard a more amazing band musically.”
The Charlatans and the birth of acid rock (livemint.com)
Red Dog Saloon (reddogpioneertown.com)
Red Dog Saloon (Virginia City, Nevada) – Wikipedia
Red Dog Saloon Declared a Nuisance (oklahoman.com)
Virginia City, Nevada – Wikipedia
A San Francisco stock market existed for the exploitation of Comstock mining. The Bank of California financed building the financial district of San Francisco with money from the Comstock mines. The influence of the Comstock lode rejuvenated what was the ragged little town of 1860 San Francisco. “Nearly all the profits of the Comstock were invested in San Francisco real estate and in the erection of fine buildings.”[14] Thus, Virginia City built San Francisco. The Comstock’s success, measured in values of the time period, totaled “about $400 million.”[15][16] Mining and its attraction of population was the economic factor that caused the separation of Nevada territory from Utah, and later justified and supported Nevada statehood.
Through time, the numerous independent Comstock mines became consolidated under ownership of large monopolies. A group called the Bank Crowd, dominated by William Sharon in Virginia City and William Ralston in San Francisco, financed the mines and mills of the Comstock until they had a virtual monopoly.
Virginia City could be considered the birthplace of the pen name of Mark Twain, as it was here in February 1863[25] that writer Samuel Clemens, then a reporter on the local Territorial Enterprise newspaper, first used the nom de plume.[26] Clemens lived in Virginia City and wrote for the Enterprise from late fall 1862 until May 1864, when he escaped from a potential duel instigated by a local newspaper editor upset at Clemens’ reporting. Clemens returned to the Comstock region twice on western lecture tours, once in 1866 where he was mugged on the Divide.[27] The muggers relieved Clemens of his watch and his money. The robbery turns out to have been a practical joke played on Clemens by his friends. He did not appreciate the joke, but he did retrieve his belongings—particularly his gold watch (worth $300), which had great sentimental value.[28] Clemens mentions the incident in his book Roughing It (1872), apparently still sore about it. Clemens’ second lecture tour in 1868 occurred at the time of the hanging of John Millian, who was convicted of murdering the well-liked madam Julia Bulette.
His daughter Clara married Francis G. Newlands, who became a Congressman and Senator from Nevada. He was also the father of Florence Emily Sharon, who married Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet. His son Frederick married Louise (née Tevis) Breckinridge, the daughter of banker Lloyd Tevis and divorced wife of John Witherspoon Breckinridge (a son of former Vice President John C. Breckinridge).[2]
Love and The Marbles
Posted on November 14, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
Peter played with the Charlatans. He told me stories about Mike Wilhelm who he admired. I was aware I was an archetype and my family history was a model for a cultural movement that made San Francisco famous. I spend a great deal of time protecting my history and roots that spawned a great world-wide cultural movement that immigrants played such a key role in sustaining. The idea of going to a new world, and building a new world in light of a new understanding is what made America Great, again, and again!
John Presco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Charlatans_(American_band)
Formed in mid-1964 by amateur avant-garde musician George Hunter and music major Richard Olsen, the earliest lineup of the Charlatans featured Hunter on autoharp and vocals, and Olsen on bass and vocals, along with Mike Wilhelm (lead guitar, vocals), Mike Ferguson (piano/keyboards, vocals), and Sam Linde (drums). Linde’s drumming was felt to be substandard by the rest of the band and he was soon replaced by Dan Hicks, who also contributed vocals to the group.[7]
The Charlatans were known for clothing themselves in late 19th-century attire, as if they were Victorian dandies or Wild West gunslingers. This unconventional choice of clothing was influential on the emerging hippie counter-culture, with many young San Franciscans dressing in similarly late Victorian and early Edwardian era clothing.[4][7]
In June 1965, the Charlatans began a six-week residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada, just across the border from Northern California. During this stint at the Red Dog, band members Ferguson and Hunter designed and produced a rock concert poster in advance of the residency to promote the band’s performances. This poster—known as “The Seed”—is widely regarded by critics as the first psychedelic concert poster.[9][nb 1] By the end of the decade, psychedelic concert-poster artwork by artists such as Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, and Victor Moscoso had become a mainstay of San Francisco’s music scene.
Another reason that the Charlatans’ stay at the Red Dog is regarded by critics and historians as significant is that, immediately before their first performance at the club, the band members took LSD. As a result, the Charlatans are sometimes called the first acid rock band, although their sound is not representative of the feedback-drenched, improvisational music that would later come to define the sub-genre.
The Charlatans returned to San Francisco at the end of summer 1965 and, in September, were given the chance to audition for Autumn Records, a label headed by local DJ, Tom “Big Daddy” Donahue. Autumn didn’t sign the band, partly due to conflicts between the group and Donahue over suitable material and partly due to lack of money; the label was on the verge of bankruptcy and was sold to Warner Bros. Records early the following year.
Bohemian Cowboys
Posted on July 12, 2014by Royal Rosamond Press
Peter Shapiro played a short while with the Charlatans before he formed The Marbles. The Charlatans had a Cowboy look that folks in the Height adopted. They were not Country-Western, but more like a Jug Band. My kindred, Mel Lyman, played in Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band. Jim married Jessie Benton who father painted a mural titled ‘The Sources of Country Music’. In CNN’s piece on The British Invasion, it is said these musicians across the pond reintroduced American Music to America. ‘Act Natually’ is CW. Christine Rosamond would have done well to render Country Art. Rena would have been a star as a cowgirl model.
Jon Presco
Peter Shapiro and I lived together in two Victorians in the Bay Area. We lived on 13th. Street near downtown Oakland, and a home in East Oakland where I did a painting of Rena Easton in 1971. When my friend, Bryan Maclean, of ‘Love’ died in 1998, I lamented the loss of the three artists God put in this world to accompany me and my gifts. Bryan and I had been the resident artist at University High is West Los Angeles in 1963 – 1964. Marilyn Reed and I created a Beatnik scene, and I drew her at a tea house we found on Sawtell. This became the New Balladeer where Bryan played with his friend, David Crosby. Bryan was also good friends of a Venice Beat named, Sky, who was murdered by my second girlfriend’s father who belonged to the Purple Gang. Bryan dated my sister,
California’s First Theme Park and Fairyland
Posted on April 19, 2023 by Royal Rosamond Press
This morning I found an article about Bill Broderick and the California Barrel Company. What an historic account, that I have sent to the Mayor of San Francisco, and the Board of Supervisors. It’s all here, the elements that made San Francisco, and California – great!
I believe the portly man in the center of my family photograph, is William Janke, whose father built in a theme park in Belmont California. Fanny Corey and her artistic brother encouraged my grandfather, Royal Rosamond, to become a writer.
I am looking for a creative law firm in order to begin a class action lawsuit against Governor DeSantis, for ruthlessly using Disneyland to propel himself into the White House. Former Governor Christie goes after DeSantis for going after Disney – in his bid for the White House. I ran for Governor of Oregon, and am a Republican Candidate for President. I am trying to SAVE the Republican Party co-founded by John Fremont, who is in my Rosy Family Tree. The damage – is huge! Will the Republican Party, and the Land of Make-believe…..ever be the same? How like King Oberon DeSantis is.
“Tarry……away!”
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/a-midsummer-nights-dream/summary-and-analysis/act-i-scene-1
Throughout the course of the play, Oberon and Titania are in an argument over a changeling boy who she has custody of. Oberon wants to keep him as his personal servant; however, Titania feels a special connection to the child because she knew his mother well. She refuses to give him up. Yet, this is far from their only issue as a couple. Oberon is known to be a flirt and uses trickery to seduce mortal women. Moreover, their bickering has caused natural disasters to take place in the mortal realm.
Fanny Corey
Posted on August 4, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is taking a swipe at Ron DeSantis, saying the Florida governor isn’t dealing with Disney like a “conservative” in a potential preview of sniping in the 2024 presidential primary.
Mr. Christie, a Republican who spoke to the Semafor news outlet, said Mr. DeSantis was overstepping in his feud with the theme-park behemoth. The fight stretches back to Disney‘s criticism of a Florida education bill last year.
“I’m a conservative, and I believe the job of government is, in the main, to stay out of the business of business,” Mr. Christie said. “I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions toward Disney.”
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/19/chris-christie-slams-ron-desantis-handling-disney-/
Children’s Fairyland, U.S.A. was the first theme park in the United States created to cater to families with young children. Located in Oakland, California on the shore of Lake Merritt, Fairyland includes 10 acres (40,000 m2) of play sets, small rides, and animals. The park is also home to the Open Storybook Puppet Theater, the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States.
Fairyland was built in 1950 by the Oakland Lake Merritt Breakfast Club. The sets were designed by artist and architect William Russell Everritt. The park was nationally recognized for its unique value, and during the City Beautiful movement of the 1950s it inspired numerous towns to create their own parks. Walt Disney even came to Fairyland often to get ideas for Disneyland.
Numerous artists have contributed exhibits, murals, puppetry, and sculptures to the park. Some of the better-known artists are Ruth Asawa and Frank Oz.
OZ at Children’s Fairyland
Posted on May 13, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
Capturing Beauty
by
John Presco
This morning as I awoke I had a image of my grandmother taking her grandchildren to Oakland’s Fairyland. She did so once a year. I was puzzling over why the Belmont Historical Society was only showing the top half of the photograph of the carousel and perhaps the sons of Carl Janke. When I saw the children gathered on the bridge, to I assume is the entrance to Carlmont Land, I then added the pictures in these giant oaks, the claim that my great, great grandfather built a place for drunks to come and get drunk – faded away! Carl had built a Turnverein Hall in San Francisco where I am sure beer was consumed in large quantities, but Belmont was going to be a special place for….The German Children of The Future…..and all Children! I google Children’s Fairyland…and I am blown away! Alas, I am home!
On this day, May 13, 2021, I add a Children’s Fairyland to Sarsaparilla Pier. When you add the images of Corey, who encouraged Royal Rosamond to take up writing, then we have arrived at Disneyland. What will be – will be! Follow the Yellowbrick Road. I beseech my daughters Heather Hanson apologize to me, and accept her heritage. I told her from the beginning
“All’s well, that ends well!”
I had a vision of the brownie camera Melba Charlotte Broderick owned and she forever taking pictures of the Presco Children. She has us pose in front of the oak trees at the entrance to Fairyland, and then there were many pics taken insider the FIRST CALIFORNIA THEM PARK that Walt Disney used as a model. I wondered what happened to them. Then I recalled her only child, my father, telling me his mother burned our photos and letters because we had neglected her. Th reason we did that, was, Melba had this HIDDEN AGENDA that Vic was made aware of. Rosemary did not not have a clue who those people were sitting in a forest that I now suspect is Twin Peaks Park. My mother said those were our “Bohunk kin”. Vic did go on about our German heritage, but it was distorted not full of any facts. Since I got into recovery thirty-four years ago, and then into therapy, I talked about how THE CHILDREN were supposed to figure out what THE ADULTS were fighting about, why we were always mentioned. They were fighting for – our sake! To be met with a rude non-greeting by members of BHS, perhaps because, I posted on Vice President Kamala Harris and her families connection to the Black Panthers?Did Kamala and Huery Newton go to Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland?
I have made numerous references to Sleeping Beauty, who Grimm named ROSAMOND, and how I might be the New Walt. Spooky Noodles has compared me o Disney. Three days ago I said I was a Ring Master in the Belmont Circus, and was bringing all the history I have gathered under….THE BIG TENT….like the striped one you see over the Janke Carousel.
Yesterday I discussed with my therapist about authoring MY REVENGE BOOK to destroy those who tried to destory me – and my late sister – who drowned on her first sober birthday! I have refrained from posting too much about OUR MAGICAL CHILDHOOD lest The Art Parasites come and steal that too! This morning at 8:39, I own a theme to my autobiography…
The Magical Children of Beautiful Mountain
I just posted this on the facebook of my frriend, Ed Howard, who has made a historic film about Oakland.
“Ed, do you have any pics of Fairyland? I would like the testimony of black people who may have felt unwelcome at Fairyland. There is much evidence my grandfather’s had their theme park taken from them at the end of world war one because they were Germans. The Belmont Historical Society snubbed me and was very rude to me when I posted on Kamala VP connection to the Black Panthers. If any former Panther went to Oakland’s Fairyland, I would like to hear your story. The Jankes were Turnverein Germans who put Lincoln in office, and nominated my kin, John Fremont. They were abolitionists.”
John Presco
Copyright 2021
President: Royal Rosamond Press: Belmont Soda Works, California Barrel Company.
Children’s Fairyland – Wikipedia
Yes, Oakland, there’s still a black Santa Claus at Fairyland (sfchronicle.com)
Oz was born in Hereford, England; the son of Frances (née Ghevaert; 1910–1989) and Isidore Oznowicz (1916–1998), both of whom were puppeteers.[6] His father was also a window trimmer.[2][7] His parents moved to England after fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Brigades. Oz’s Dutch-Polish father was Jewish, and his Flemish mother was a lapsed Catholic.[3][8][9][10] They left England when he was six months old and lived in Belgium until he was five.[11][12] Oz and his family moved to Montana in 1951.[7] They eventually settled in Oakland, California.[2] Oz attended Oakland Technical High School and Oakland City College. He worked as an apprentice puppeteer at Children’s Fairyland as a teenager[13] with the Vagabond Puppets, a production of the Oakland Recreation Department, where Lettie Connell was his mentor.[14]
Career[edit]
Puppeteering[edit]
Oz is known for his work as a puppeteer, performing with Jim Henson‘s Muppets. As a teenager, he worked with the Vagabond Puppets at the Children’s Fairyland of Oakland,[15] which is how he first met Henson.[16] He was 19 when he joined Henson in New York to work on the Muppets in 1963.[17] His characters have included Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle on The Muppet Show, and Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert on Sesame Street.
Children’s Fairyland, U.S.A. is an amusement park, located in Oakland, California, on the shores of Lake Merritt. It was one of the earliest “themed” amusement parks in the United States.[1] Fairyland includes 10 acres (4.0 ha) of play sets, small rides, and animals. The park is also home to the Open Storybook Puppet Theater, the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States.[2]
Belmont Theme Park – A First
Posted on November 7, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
I conclude Carl Janke is the founder of the city of Belmont, and perhaps the first Theme Park in California. Pre-fab homes were built back east and brought to Benicia in order to make it the first Capital of California. I suspect Belmont was a rival city.
William August Janke, the son of Carl August Janke of Belmont, lived in a Victorian house at 320 Haight St. a a block and a half from Fillmore St. Carl founded what may be the oldest theme park in America that catered to members of the Odd Fellows who lived in San Francisco. Carl Janke hired a special train to bring people to his theme park modeled after a German folk town and beergarten. Carl owned the Belmont soda works and sold a drink that may have contained cocaine. Carl made a jail for his town because folks got out of hand. Consider the Haight-Ashbury that was the haven for the Hippie Movement, that got out of hand. It became a theme-park that attracted folks from all over the world, and was the focal point of the war on drugs.
John Presco
1864-1910, page 133).
Records from Tombstones in Laurel Hill Cemetery, 1853-1927 – Janke
– Stuttmeister
Mina Maria Janke, daughter of William A, & Cornelia Janke, born
February 2, 1869, died March 1902.
William August Janke, native of Hamburg, Germany, born Dec. 25,
1842, died Nov. 22, 1902, son of Carl August & Dorette Catherine Janke. Frederick William R. Stuttmeister, native of Berlin, Germany, born
1812, died January 29, 1877.
Mrs. Matilda Stuttmeister, wife of Frederick W.R. Stuttmeister, born
1829, died March 17, 1875, native of New York.
Victor Rudolph Stuttmeister, son of Frederick W.R. & Matilda
Stuttmeister, born May 29, 1846, died Jan. 19, 1893, native of New
York.
Rosamond Press 