Precipitation conversation

My suspicions were proven to be founded, when The Schaf appeared on Chris Evans's Radio 2 show {i}, this time in person! Well... on the other end of the phone anyway, as Chris's mystery guest. In this segment Chris has to conduct a three-minute entertaining interview, with a guest unknown to Chris-- until his producer reveals his or hers indentity just before the chat.

Tomasz got off to an enthusiastic start, praising the producer's rich introduction. With Friday's show in mind, Chris enquired about Tomasz's surname: His Loveliness confirmed it is Austrian, but some debate as to its meaning. It appears certain that the "Schafer" part means sheep, so Tomasz mused that it probably means shepherd.

Chris remarked he thought the name had a great meter {ii}, and loved saying it. Chris then asked if any of Tomasz's family come from Austria: Tomasz commented that he been discussing this with his father recently, and the Schafernakers he knows of, are largely of Polish and Russian extraction.

Chris then discussed Tomasz's first name, confirming the correct spelling and pronunciation, which enthused Chris. The Schaf self-depreciatingly chuckled that most of the mail he gets, is misspelt. Even so, I think it's a wonderfully distinctive name, don't you?

Finally talk turned to the the item which intially attracted the show's interest and praise from Moira Stewart, that was the rain-gauge. Tomasz discussed its construction, before the three-minute limit elapsed.

Here's the link, which expires on Sunday...
Fast-foward to 02:07:13

Enjoy!





{i} For those outside the UK, that's not the actor Chris Evans, rather a (in)famous media magnate.

{ii} Better than iambic pentameter, even.

Cornwall cameo

After months of absence, Tomasz finally returned to our screens on The Great British Weather, as reporter. Joy unconfined, albeit a relatively brief joy.

He appeared around 34 minutes into the programme, firstly in the form of a report. We saw a sun-dappled Tomasz strolling across the North Pennines moors, musing upon that old weather adage: "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" {i}.

He spoke to Cumbrian shepherdess Rachel Marston, who explained the weather is important to her, so she knows when to bring the sheep in (and other such things). She also stated that the theory "is more or less true". Indeed there is a basis in this; red skies occur when the sun is at a low angle, making the light refract red light. If there is clear skies in the west (most of British weather comes from the west), then there will rich red sunsets.

However "more or less" is not good enough for The Schaf, so he enlist Rachel's two daughters to keep a check on the theory. Rachel and daughters turned up at TGBW's live location of St Ives in Cornwall, along with His Loveliness. The results pretty much backed up the theory; "we don't need Tomasz", joked Rachel. Not to worry Tomasz, because we were treated to nice close-ups of you and you looked a treat in shorts.

Despite Tomasz's brief appearance on the show, there is more online, and you don't even need to press your red button. It appears Tomasz's strand in the show, is to explain whether weather folklore is true or not:
Drink me

Also two videos from the Blue Peter garden, featuring The Schaf giving us some practical advice-- not just how to look good in jeans and a navy t-shirt:





An i-player link for tonight's programme as yet to materialise, at the time of typing... but maybe a kind soul or two will have recorded it on that there Youtube. Pretty please. Maybe there will be screen-grabs too. So I may well update this tomorrow...

Meanwhile a shot of the set at St Ives.


Tomasz with Michael Fish, the BBC's longest-serving weather forecaster. Tomasz explains: If you watched last night's show, you will have found out that Michael gets whacked on the head with an umbrella each time he gets his forecast wrong! I'm hoping his prediction for next week's show is wrong!! ;) LOL............I'd do it gently of course! ;)



Finally Tomasz's take on the forthcoming St Swithin's Day:
There is no evidence to back it up, but it's not as silly as you might think. There is scientific evidence to suggest that if the summer continues to be unsettled (frequent spells of rain and only short periods of warmth+sun) beyond "the middle of summer" (ie now-ish), our chances of getting better weather vanishes. Basically, the Jet Stream "get's stuck in a rut" and is unlikely to shift. So, perhaps the bad weather in the coming days is, in fact, an ominous sign!

{i} Red sky in the afternoon, shepherd's house on fire. Alright, I made that bit up