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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Oh, Please Don’t Tell Mother Calhoun That It’s Necessary To Explain THIS To Anyone . . .?

The Tribune reported on Wednesday, June 21, that the morning after the County Board of Supervisors met to vote to participate in the Blakeslee Breakthrough Proposal, “A well-known Los Osos sewer activist,” Al Barrow, went to Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee’s office and, according to Mr. Barrow, “criticized Blakeslee’s recently announced plan” to 19 year-old scheduler, Audrey Crescenti, who said, “He was so aggressive and agitated that I was frightened by his threat.” [to “attack the office”] and called the Highway Patrol, which is responsible for protecting members of the state Assembly and Senate.

Sigh.

As one who has been the recipient of Mr. Barrow’s aggressive agitation (i.e. being yelled at on the street by Mr. Barrow while leaving the old Bay News office and getting into her car) Mother Calhoun can certainly sympathize with Ms. Crescenti.

Sigh some more.

Apparently, someone in Los Osos needs for Mother Calhoun to explain something to a certain someone, so listen up:

Mau-Mauing is an old political tactic that’s beautifully outlined by Tom Wolfe in his hilarious book, “Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers.” But more than a political tactic, it is primarily a piece of theatre. And as such, in order to work properly, it must be GOOD theatre.

Mau-Mauing an assemblyman’s 19 year-old scheduler about legislation or policy is BAD theatre and makes about as much sense as Mau-Mauing the young lady behind the Gottschalks cosmetics counter because the refrigerator you ordered a month ago arrived with an ice tray missing. Cosmetic clerks don’t have anything to do with refrigerators; schedulers don’t have anything to do with legislation or policy.

Plus, harassing 19 year-olds is always bad form. Always.

Unless, of course, they’re your kids and haven’t done their chores yet.

Happily, %99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 of all the people who live in Los Osos understand this. And I’m sure will join with Mother Calhoun in offering our collective apologies to Ms. Crescenti and the entire staff at Mr. Blakeslee’s office. .

22 comments:

Mike Green said...

Truley an emBarrowsment.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

I'm sure that 19 year old girl had read the book and was well aware she was being "Mau Maued," so her fright too was only theatre.

Sorry, acting as he did, Barrow was exhibiting a little more than BAD FORM. Trivializing what he did will only encourage him.

Being a couple of feet away from him when he went off at a CSD meeting TERRIFIED me, and I am far from the age of 19.

Anonymous said...

Huh?

Apologize collectively?? Speak for yourself.

Sympathy for the woman, yes, tons. Empathy, tons. Sorrow, definitely.

Maybe those that condone his behaviour and have tolerated it might apologize. A town need not apologize for a clown, period.

*PG-13 said...

Embarrassing, ... unfortunate, .... unnecessary, ..... counter-productive, ....... and really really dumb all come to mind.

Fear and Loathing in Los Osos. Gonzo indeed.

Thankfully, it seems most, if not all, the other parties are edging quietly and hopefully to the Blakeslee negotiation table with bated breath. Hoping against hope the BPP will serve up something they can swallow. While loose cannons roll about the deck.

Watch your toes. And don't forget to take your towel.

Anonymous said...

With all due respect PG, I wonder just how much "negotiating" there can be, or did I misunderstand Harry Ovitt's analogy to getting a loan from the bank and having the terms set for you instead of you telling the bank what the terms of the loan should be. Or am I misunderstanding this whole process?

Anonymous said...

Listen up everyone. This is it. Either get on board with this program or get out of town. There is no other reaonable, realistic option. The County engineers and our CSD can hash out the best solution. Please please please just let them do it.

Mike Green said...

To anon "do it"
Hopefully, Mr Barrow will take your second option.
There are some realy tricky issues that Sam and his layers will need to confront before this gets through the Assymbly.
Steve Paige has some good points (see blog below)
I hope it turns out alright.

Anonymous said...

Al Barrow has been the most unfortunate loose cannon, 2 edged sword, well poisoning mill stone around the necks of many in this community. For Years. His Disordered personality has been an easy boon for for the supporters of the Recalled board and their policies. For Years.
Oppponents of the Recalled have been cynicallly and skillfully painted with the Al Barrow brush.
Store owners & Cafe owners & seniors walking their poodles all cringe at his approach.
The perfect boyfriend for Ms. Albright.
A politcally liability? ABSOLUTELY.
ARE YOU LISTENING DR. WYKHAM??!!
Scary?
ABSOLUTELY.
Sewertoons thinks he is scary now?At 69?
Try 10-12 years ago, roaring down our dirt roads in a crappy nissan pickup hollering and yelling and acting disordered to anybody and everybody. The man collects restraining orders like baseball cards. Has been 86ed from establishements all across town. Repeatedly. For Years. A speciality is intimidating seniors and scaring 19 year olds
Dangerous?
I highly highly doubt it.
Completely fed up with him?
110%
Posting as an anon so he doesn't sue me.
ABSOLUTELY!

Ron said...

I admit, I've been more of a lurker than poster lately, but I have to chime in on Anon's excellent post.

That is one of the best comments I've ever read on this blog... so good.

All the great takes! (You need to post more, Anon):

"His Disordered personality has been an easy boon for for the supporters of the Recalled board and their policies. For Years."

That is such an accurate observation. When that's the public face of the Tri-Dub opposition, it's an absolute freaking miracle that the recall was successful.

"Store owners & Cafe owners & seniors walking their poodles all cringe at his approach."

Poodle smack. Great!

"The man collects restraining orders like baseball cards."

That made me laugh out loud.

"Dangerous? I highly highly doubt it. Completely fed up with him? 110% Posting as an anon so he doesn't sue me. ABSOLUTELY!"

Brilliant!

I originally toyed with the idea of posting something like, "Huh... let's see... he screams at girls, women, and seniors............. Hey, Al, I'm none of the above. Why don't you come and scream in my face some time, and we'll see how that works out?"

But I don't want to get sued!

Ann said:

"Happily, %99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 of all the people who live in Los Osos understand this."

That made me laugh out loud, too.

Real quick -- I thought an interesting part of the Trib's story was that Blakeslee's staff had to close the entire office for the rest of the day. And if I remember correctly, Al's scream-fest happened at about 10:30 a.m. That wasted that office's entire day. It's my guess they had a couple of better things they could have been dealing with.

Memo to all screamers in Los Osos: As the great Jim Rome says, "Screaming doesn't make your take better. Screaming makes your take louder."

Anonymous said...

Rome smacks:

Anon sez,
"For Years.
Oppponents of the Recalled have been cynicallly and skillfully painted with the Al Barrow brush."

Wrongo, the recall throng painted, brushed, baptized, and draped themselves all over Barrow's initiative. They did it to themselves by supporting legal voodoo which sapped away time & money that could have been spent changing the project. Nope, the 'plan' was based on a pillor of sand. They had a chance to stand up to Barrow and be credible. They blew it, and lost credibility and painted themselves in a corner with the state because of it.

Sheesh, and Ann wonders where the anti-sewer tag came from.

Anonymous said...

"the recall throng". Now there is a another nice unbiased take heard from. Why not just call us "the others". Sub human, knuckle dragging...Riff Raff??
Very few people ever took Barrow seriously & no he didn't write Measure B, although he loudly claimed credit for it.
Barrow's initiative...spin worthy of any of the disinformers featuring themselves on this blog. Pandora would be proud.

Anonymous said...

if in doubt, yell 'spin' -tired & true.

they took him seriously when they signed it and voted for it (talk about 'spin'!)

so that there is no spin - please oh wise kennel lord , tell everyone who did write it and who we should thank for it!

smack away

Anonymous said...

Oh great & glorious Rome, that would be Julie Biggs, not Al Barrow who authored Measure B.
So which Rome are you, monikering with your weak ass smack? The Empire and all its fine works, Pretorian, elitist, born of the gods? Or is it Tony Rome, and you are just like some many sideline fans, think cuz you watch ESPN, you know sports.
Your smack, lacks.
Maybe Looneytoons will give you a kiss or Snark Inlet will give you a spreadsheet and teach you how to sound prissy.
Y'all spin enough to make Ann Coulter Blush, just so you can go forget & flush.
You and you builders' cronies always spinning like sin, because without your lies you know you can't win.
Money was king in the Rome's dark day. But the unwashed hordes took that all away.
Sic Semper Tyrannus. Smackito.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Ah, Dog Ref. How do you think that expensive piece of legal doo-doo called Measure B won? - Spin, spin, spin!

Pot calling kettle black perchance?

So this is a class war? Funny - I thought it was over a sewer! Silly me!

Mike Green said...

Ron the mauler said:
I originally toyed with the idea of posting something like, "Huh... let's see... he screams at girls, women, and seniors............. Hey, Al, I'm none of the above. Why don't you come and scream in my face some time, and we'll see how that works out?"
I got your back Ron.
(In reality I'm a 200lb first born silverback male! aint fraid o nothin!)

Anonymous said...

It certainly wasn't money won the Recall or Measure B.
It certainly wasn't the influence of Al Barrow for 99.98% of the voters.
Budd Sanford either.
It was the Elitist attitude & policies of the Dreamers and their regime.
It was the Trees being felled before the election.
It was because of Joey Recano waving that damn sign everyday, crazy brave, during the commute on LOVR
It was because of 6 million dollars wasted in cost analysis that not six months later was proved in error by nearly fifty percent.
It was because those lousy stinking front loaded bids were accepted by that crony filled board.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
I don't need to spin when I count their sins...
Journalist Ron Crawford re the unfortunate Mr. Barrow:
"His Disordered personality has been an easy boon for for the supporters of the Recalled board and their policies. For Years."

That is such an accurate observation. When that's the public face of the Tri-Dub opposition, it's an absolute freaking miracle that the recall was successful."
When the cause is just...
& Yes I fully believe that the Tri W project was and is meant as an economic weapon against the middle class, the working poor and the fixed income folk of Los Osos. As are the CDOs. As is the policy goals of the Dissolutionists.
Follow the $$$, find the truth.

Anonymous said...

Yo big Mike G & Ron. Y'all better watch out for ole Barrow. He was a jarhead on the way back don'tcha know?
Knows himself some jujitsukungfu fighting.
Showed us some his patent moves a few years back while he had his drink on outside the Merrimaker.
We were awestruck........

Anonymous said...

Doogie Howser smacks,

"Money was king in the Rome's dark day. But the unwashed hordes took that all away."

Memo to Dogwood: The dark ages followed the fall of Rome.

Round & round dogman spins, and becomes so confused, only a blind pup only sees half the town as developers in sheets. Hate is his creed, that is all he offers, shouting and screaming while his friends drain the coffers. A mangy-old dog is he, if only Ann Coulter could adopt him, what a splendid hound he would be.

Someday there will be a renaissance.

Ron said...

DPR said:

"...fighting."

Hey, who said anything about physical confrontation? Certainly not me (to all you legal types that may have happened to have read my post above). My exact quote was, "...we'll see how that works out." Please consider that not "a threat of “physical harm" but more of a “threat of political protest.”

In truth, I don't mind ol' Al (except for his affinity for screaming at girls, women, and seniors, which I find nauseating). His incessant pacing at public meetings -- like a caged wild animal -- sure, is a tad odd. But that could be for health reasons, for all I know.

Quickly -- my bottom-line take on Al is this: He actually has a lot of good points and is very knowledgeable on this issues, and has a long history with the story. (I remember seeing him at a great, yet lightly attended, RWQCB meeting in 2001 (I believe) when the initial CSD Directors begged the Water Board to accept the CSD's proposed revised construction time line, because they wasted almost two years chasing the Solution Group's ill-fated ponding project, and were waaaaay behind schedule. Outside of a few initial CSD Directors, Al was one of the few -- if not only -- members of the community in attendance that day. Since then, it seems like almost everyone in Los Osos forgot that the time line that the CSD was working under was the one they begged for -- and got, and then immediately started whining about it. Al and I didn't foget.

If he were to just keep his act in check (i.e. not show off "jujitzukungfu" moves outside of the Merrimaker after he has "his drink on") and grasp the meaning of the word "credibility," he would be much more effective and relevant.

You can drive an old Nissan pick-up and still have credibility. That's fine. However, you can't if you go around screaming at girls, women, and seniors.

Anonymous said...

"If he were to just keep his act in check (i.e. not show off "jujitzukungfu" moves outside of the Merrimaker after he has "his drink on") and grasp the meaning of the word "credibility," he would be much more effective and relevant."
Is wishes were horses, beggars would ride...
I was being sarcastic, who in the world would really want to fight the misfortunate 69 year old Mr. Barrow??
Even though the CHP, the most professional public outfit funded by the state of California IMHO, found nothing amiss, a 19 year old young republican intern might easily take fright at Al. Particularly as his reputation and credibility preceed him.
Neither having very much at all to do with an Nissan Pick Up, except to how it was driven through town. A straw in a bale.
Obsessed personalities can be pretty heedless in their behaviors. These can have impact all by themselves. Exploit them?
Well then you can sell newspapers.
Or serve political agendas.
Sometimes you can do both at the same time.
"When one is not expressing himself, he is not free"-- Bruce Lee

Mike Green said...

All props to you Doggie!
And I have a different perspective of Al.
(altough, I think he FU'd)

Anonymous said...

"Ron said:
Real quick -- I thought an interesting part of the Trib's story was that Blakeslee's staff had to close the entire office for the rest of the day. And if I remember correctly, Al's scream-fest happened at about 10:30 a.m. That wasted that office's entire day. It's my guess they had a couple of better things they could have been dealing with."

Ron-- we "closed" the office (i.e. locked the door for our own safety) but stayed inside and worked for the entire day.