Meta-blog

Salutations all!

It certainly has been a long time since my last communique, all has been quiet on The Schaf front of late. It now appears I have become a meta-blog-- although I am more than happy to cede to His Loveliness!

Tomasz has started posting his own blog on Facebook. For those who are not on said site, here's his first blog-post.

Hi everyone,


Just wanted to let you know that...

...about once a week I'll be updating you with a short blog so you know what I'm up to. I’ve been asked a number of times for various updates so I think the quick blog approach should suffice!

Anyway, before I go any further, I also wanted to say that I'm absolutely delighted that I still have so many followers despite the fact that it has been nearly a year since I left the Met Office and the BBC Weather Centre.

The past year has been fairly busy for me despite the fact that you haven't seen me popping-up on the News Channel or at lunchtime.

I've been involved with a fair bit of prep work for new projects which will hopefully come to fruition soon... not allowed to say any more right now...it just takes aaabsolutely aaaages in the 'world of media' (yawn) and time flies like a kite on a jet-stream!

Last summer, I was pleased to be involved with the BBC's Great British Weather show, this year far more exciting things are on the way, I'll keep you posted.

Apart from that, I'm doing well and was enjoying the 'very mild' winter...

The tropical plants and trees in the garden were doing well too....until now!

Of course, now it’s a deep freeze in Europe and some of us are wondering if it’s going to snow in UK this weekend. I think it just might!

On another note, I happily turned 33 not long ago...the waist is still a 30 last time I checked so no complaints there! The fitness regime is very much a daily routine and I'm following the fantastic folks from team "Cycle Africa" - here is the link . http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

They set off from London last summer and are cycling all the way to Cape Town for charity...it's taking them a year! Amazing! They are currently making their way through Ethiopia and hope to reach South Africa come (our) Summer.


That's all from me for now, somewhere still out there...http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

( Next blog should be a little more concise...this is just the first one! )

Ps: I'm currently providing a little daily weather service for Monocle magazine. They recently launched a 24-hour online radio service and I've been providing their forecasts since October. The forecasts are uuuusually up-to-date on their media player ;-)



I shall endeavour to keep up-to-date with his new blog posts. In the meantime, a picture of Tomasz in the Polish snow last year. That's a good eight inches I'd say {i}



For all those in Great Britain, take care in the white stuff that is falling as I type! Although we're lucky in that we have the sea to keep us relatively mild-- I understand the landlocked Czech Republic has got down to the giddy depths of -30C! Over in Moscow, -20C this afternoon. Brass monkeys indeed.

Finally congratulations on Tomasz's 30-inch waist too. I'm a pitiful 32-inch waist, even though I'm built like chewed string. I can only imagine Tomasz wears a corset [chuckle]

{i} And the snow drift as well-- fnar-fnar.

Food for thought

Tomasz has made a much welcome return to the Twittersphere; he apologies for his recent silence, but I'm sure he's been busy with other things.

Firstly he has attended an event organised by Food Network UK, a television channel that describes itself as: The ultimate food destination. Loads of recipes and videos to satisfy your every craving. Watch us on Sky 262, Freeview 49 and freesat 405.

A fellow attendee of the event, was a baker called Edd Kimber-- who took this lovely shot of himself with The Schaf



I'm not sure why His Loveliness was invited to this event {i}: Maybe my notion of yore could be could be coming true, a cookery show with Rustie Lee. I can picture it now; Tomasz showing off his hot perogis, while Rustie cackles anarchically in the background.

In the past couple of days, Tomasz has been keeping us updated on the strong winds over Scotland. Tulloch Bridge in Perth & Kinross recorded a gust of 105mph, while Glasgow Airport had gusts of over 70mph! The highest speed recorded has reportedly been at Cairngorm (Highlands) 165mph-- only 8mph short of the all-time record. I bet that ruffles the feathers of the ptarmigan.

Some wags have named the storm Hurricane Bawbag {ii}, a name that seems to have quickly gained popularity. However, as Michael Fish will tell you {iii}, we can't get hurricanes in this country; just as well, because I don't think Scotland would like 14 inches of rain in one day! (It would bring the midges out)

Tomasz explains:
I see there is some discussion about "hurricanes" and "hurricane force winds". Hurricanes only happen in the subtropics and close to the tropics. It's a term that describes a cluster of spinning thunderstorms about an "eye". The winds which blow inside a hurricane are of "hurricane force".

Hurricane winds blow at least 74mph with gusts of 90mph or more. Today, we in fact, had hurricane force winds in the UK, but not generated by a spinning cluster of thunderstorms (a "hurricane"). The winds today were brought by a mid-lattitude storm which is common in our climate. So, you can have "hurricane winds" but not necessarily produced by a tropical hurricane.

The good news is that the winds are expected to die down a little overnight. However temperatures will struggle to get much above freezing (only 3C expected in my neck of the woods tomorrow), which means blizzards are possible on high ground.

In fact some snow has already fallen across the Pennines; as is 'traditional', the marvellous Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire (Britain's highest pub) was cut off by snow yesterday-- ultimate lock-in. Just as well it has its own snow-plough!

Stay safe in the winds, if you're in Scotland.

{i} To help make some dough rise, perhaps
{ii} For those who have not watched Dr Finlay or Taggart, that's a gentleman's scrotal sac (IE "ball-bag")
{iii} And has been doing since 1987

Krusty the clown

His Loveliness was back on today, with a classy blue tie and tanfastic glow. However Tomasz did seem a little distrated; I swear I saw a strange shadow on the screen for one or two of his forecasts-- it's sabotage I tell you!

We did have an adorable (but minor) slip-up: Referring to the cold night over Northern Ireland, The Schaf said that the morning would be "crusty". What could make it crusty there, I wonder? Perhaps there are many hippies in Norn Iron, so there are. Of course our weather god meant "cold and frosty". Least he can laugh at himself...



The calming influence of Northern Ireland's finest, Maxine Mawhinney, meant that things ran more smoothly at 13:56..



Either way, seeing Tomasz on telly makes me as happy as Rustie Lee on Pro-Plus.

Meanwhile over on Twitter, Tomasz wants you to show off your prize-winning pumpkin! He aims to showcase the finest photos of pumpkins on his website. Speaking of which, the website has been updated with some nice pics of Tomasz on London-Paris bike-ride, plus a Halowe'en themed header. As you may know, Tomasz is famed for his Halowe'en parties....



Tomasz also kindly thanks everyone for the kind messages on Facebook, and is "still at the weather centre, for the moment". Reportedly the 'regime change' is due at the end of November-- I'm pleased to say his website remarks he's on "throughout November".

He's scheduled to be on Country Tracks tomorrow. As interesting as Jodie Kidd is, The Schaf ought to be on in the last quarter-hour (between 12:00 and 12:15). I'm sure the wonderful Terratec will capture the moments of glory for us! Thanks for the two uploads today, by the way.

Facebook fraternity

I'm sure many of you follow The Schaf on Facebook: As well as writing kind comments of support on His Loveliness's page there, we now have a Facebook page calling for his return:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_125579087496656
Fbk got Rage Against The Machine to Christmas Number One last year, and got Cadbury's to re-introduce Wispa-- so who knows?

Speaking of which, I've noticed a couple of comments on Facebook, claiming the decision about Tomasz was borne "out of homophobia". I doubt (I certainly hope) this is not the case, given the large number of gay men that work at Television Centre, not least presenters for BBC News; James Dagwell, Julian Worricker and Evan Davies for instance.

On a brighter note, a nice piece from a Guardian writer, who writes in defence of charismatic weather presenter. She calls Tomasz "glamorous", so she gets my vote!. Ian McCaskill receiving the biggest postbag... well that shows weather-presenters with character are popular. Not only does His Loveliness have that, but he has the amazing good looks to complement it.

If things don't turn out well for Tomasz in his new role, I'd like to make a suggestion, a revival of an idea I had previously: Tomasz has a keen interest in the paranormal, so I reckon they should revive Strange But True {i}. His dramatic narration and engaging phraseology would be perfect! He could even take the mick out those hammy reconstructions, that's the programme's trademark. No offence to Michael Aspel, but Tomasz is much easier on the eye too.

If I recall rightly, his main interest in the paranormal is to do with UFOs. This an epsiode of Strange But True documenting our most notorious UFO incident in the UK {ii}. Imagine what Tomasz would do with this...




{i} Call me selfish, but I wouldn't want to lose him to the USA, and being on Coast To Coast instead [haha]
{ii} If you go to Rendlesham Forest, there's even an official UFO trail to go on now!

Staying out of trouble

A nice message from The Divine One on Facebook today {iii}:

Hi everyone, I'm at the Weather Centre this weekend. A lot of mixed weather coming for us folks here in the UK over the next few days...Monday washout on the way! Have a good rest of the weekend wherever you may be and keep out of trouble...I know I will! ;)

Luckily for Tomasz, he's mostly on radio over the next two days-- so chance of getting into trouble for unfortunate gestures. I'm sure my Canadian readers (and those elsewhere overseas), will be pleased to know The Schaf is on the World News overnight!

As for the rest, the Jet Stream is not where it should be over the UK-- so we're experiencing torrential rain-showers at present! Then again the UK did experience a very dry January-June, so we need the water in some ways.

Yesterday I saw this letter in our publication of the week, Metro:



Tomasz isn't British-born, so we'll let him off [wink] Although you can't beat a good old Anglo-Saxon salute-- Tomasz was too kind to Simone-- he got off lightly with just one finger (so to speak).

Sadly criticism of Tomasz elsewhere hasn't been so jovial {i}. A common dig at Tomasz, is that he supposedly makes more mistakes than other forecasters on the BBC

I've seen all the other forecasters slip up on occasion as well-- perfectly understandable given they have no autocue and it's live television-- and they're human after all.

The difference is that Tomasz endearingly highlights his mistakes, often to humourous effect-- especially since he does brilliant job otherwise. Of course Terratec very kindly uploads one of Tomasz's forecasts each day for this blog, so it's natural we pick the one where Tomasz makes a cute gaffe-- thus it's on Youtbue for all to see (whereas his other colleagues don't get such scrunity!) {ii}

That said there are plenty of days where Tomasz presents flawless broadcasts, thus the majority of clips of Tomasz don't show him making errors. However his insecure and jealous detractors choose to ignore those, to indulge in bitchy schadenfreude--selective memory and all that.

Also I've noticed a few people wiseacres on the net calling him "ditsy", "dumb as fuck" and other things along those lines. I would say he is bubbly, giggly and has the grace to laugh at himself-- he's by no means an airhead. For a start he has a degree in meterology (further studies thence too), something which requires a lot of intelligence. He also speaks two languages fluently (possibly more than two?). He is also a very talented artist, gardener and photographer.

Let's not forget he also has to predict the weather from complex weather charts, and then condense that information into a one-minute broadcast: He does this without dumbing down, but being engaging at the same time. And if you listen to any of his Janice Long chats, he's knowledgeable about other things and has a very quick wit-- plus self-aware too.

So far from being "dumb" or "ditzy" I say. People who call him that, are probably the same towering intellects who think Tomasz having a "strop"/being a "diva" with Simon over the petal comment. So clever in fact, they cannot see Tomasz was being ironic in his response, hence his wry smile and chuckling!

The best are those who say: "Never heard of him". And folk on the Points Of View website, who call him a "bad boy". That's a bit like calling Lorraine Kelly a yobbo! Although as one correspondent on said board points out, "[it's nothing] compared to the Swiss weatherman Joerg Kachelmann who is (or was?) very popular in Germany. He's been charged of rape and awaits a trial next month". One way of looking at things I suppose.

And we have the people who say he's always attention/publicity seeking-- as if his gaffes are deliberate. This middle-finger thing was an accident FFS. Anyway he is on telly, and the point of being a TV presenter is that you are watched (or in thr case of radio, listened to)-- duh. To Tired x3 who criticises him (on his own blog) for having an agent, why shouldn't he-- or use it to futher his fame? He's popular, get over it. Besides other BBC news presenters have other gigs beyond the news, Fiona Bruce does Anitques Roadshaw for instance. Carol Kirkwood does stints on The One Show

They may have a case with Attitude, but he's not different to any other person who has posed for them. If Attitude is willing to pay for him to tell us about his fitness regime, and he's willing to get his clothes off and get paid for it-- then why not?

Then again when insecure/jealous people (or Daily Mail types) observe somebody as gorgeous, popular and clever as Tomasz; I suppose the natural reaction is to hit out at him, makes them feel better I guess. Sad really. I say Tomasz is a force of good in the world, try venting your anger on people who are actually excreable.

As for those seven people who complained to the BBC about that incident, they'll get their fearsome come-uppance I'm sure [wink]



As the wonderful Ian Hyland says: "There's no stopping Tomasz now!". Look out the window to see the weather? I'd rather look at Tomasz. I can't think why he's got a large gay following though [wink]

{i} Especially on one message board, which obliquely insulted this very blog. I like to think Tomasz's gesture was aimed at them aswell.
{ii} To be fair some of the bloopers aren't his fault
{iii} Still great to see those messages of support on Fbk for him-- good on you!

Very silly season

The News At One finished with a story about a stunt pilot, whose plane's wing fell off mid-flight. Thankfully the pilot escaped via parachute, and unharmed. "A lucky man" commented Sophie Raworth, before handing over to Tomasz! {iv}

Lucky indeed... I'm pleased he was back today and phlegmatic as ever. I'm also so heartened to see so many people posting so many supportive and forgiving posts on his Facebook profile, Twitter and elsewhere (including mardy papers' websites). Thankfully any Angry Of Mayfair comments have been extremely rare... if anything it's boosted his popularity! {iii}

I extend a big thanks to readers of this blog, who have rallied round Tomasz to give him supportive words on said outlets. Thumbs up to all of you.

Also it appears that his the story has gone worldwide-- you can tell it's silly-season! To be fair Tomasz, he does get global exposure: Metaphorically on the BBC World News and literally with numerous repostings of his Attitude shoot on the world-wide web! I know from the stats I get for this blog, I have traffic from all over the world; not just the UK, Poland and Canada. I think the incident will seal his status as international legend-- rightly so.

Sadly some people aren't impressed, are rather keen to shit-stir. Worst offender in my view, was today's Metro: "The outlook for this weatherman is bleak", with picture caption stating: "Mr Schafernaker can expect a frosty recpetion at work today". Laugh, I almost did.

This article is so crap it's good...



Below that was outrage about clothes GMTV presenters wear. Ye gods. Tomasz accidentally swearing on-air, an outrageous affront; Third World daily death-toll a mere statistic, it would appear.

Amusingly the BBC has put the video on its own Youtube channel, so perhaps they've finally seen the lighter side of it too {ii}. As I mentioned earlier, he was on the telly today, impeccably behaved... as was friend Simon McCoy. I wonder what he was referring to at the beginning of this [LOL], Murphy's law et al.



I'm sure many a reader wouldn't mind being given a finger by Tomasz. Oof, did I really just type that? 1609 visitors for yesterday, probably the record for my 11 months doing this!

By popular request...


Now that Tomasz is a true global star {i}, I hope my blog can do him justice still! Thanks to Terratec for the video upload, by the way

{i} Well he was mentioned on the Wright Stuff, after all
{ii} It does air Eastenders several times a week!
{iii} Denise Welsh mouthed a four-letter insult, Coleen called someone a "slag" and Lynda Bellingham once said "bollocks"-- all on Loose Women. Those ladies are still on it, as is the show... even with Joan Rivers's best attempt to derail it with her Russell Crowe comment.
{iv} I blame Emma Jesson, with her numerous appearances on TV's Naughiest Blunders. Bye-bye!

The truth is out there

My life is now complete. I've had a lovely email off The Schaf today! It read

>>>
Well hello...Don't really know what to say! I'm flattered to have a blog page updated by 'someone out there' :-).
...
I actually have a new Facebook page now which anyone can join. I'll be interacting with with everyone on that site.My personal Facebook page is really reserved for close friends and family for now)

Wishing you good weather and the kind of weather you enjoy!
Tomasz Schafernaker :-)
<<<<

How amazing is that! I did try some Polish, but unfortunately my idiom wasn't much good-- but he was commendably sympathetic about my butchering of his native language. He also hinted that he'll send a signed photo-- that'll be eternally treasured.

As you'll have seen above The Schaf now has his own official Fbk page, where you can "interact" with him. Some great new photos on there, I'd recommend the bike album... however the cutest photo is of Tomasz singing Bjork on Karaoke. He's clearly living the song; with a wide open mouth, closed eyes and squatting pose.

Click here for more pictures of Tomasz posing in taut jeans and tight shirts

Tomasz is now such a star, he has an agent: Tim Reed Management 1st Floor, 23 Tavistock Street London WC2E 7NX .

Who couldn't resist Tomasz's obvious charms...

And that's magic!

The Schaf did a magic trick on News At One today-- a disappearing act no less. Poor Tomasz was taken out of vision, so we didn't get to see his uroczy smile-- we were treated to his adorable giggle though!



Ta muchly to Terratec 365 for that; I liked it, but quite a lot.

Nothing to report from Tomasz's website. However The Schaf has quite a presence on Facebook...

A fan page. Two appreciation groups-- this one and this one. There's also another group, for those appreciate his finer attributes.

This has to be the best though, surely [wink]

Tomasz breathless with enthusiasm

The Schaf returned to our screens this lunchtime, telling us of chilly weather and even snow across the Pennines {i}. He was particularly ebullient today with a pleasant twinkle in his eye, just the way we like him {ii}. This forecast from later on, at 1:55pm...



It reminds me of a comment made on The Weather Is Boring Without Tomasz Schafernacker Facebook website:

"I often ignore the weather forecast, but when Tomasz is on, I am compelled to watch. He gives so much information in an entertaining way, almost breathless with enthusiasm. And isn't his English brilliant"

Sums up the appeal of Tomasz brilliantly. His deft phraseology, charisma and being easy on the eye. I'm frequently breathless with enthusiasm when I watch him... err... yes... which reminds me: Tomasz should be on Country Tracks tomorrow! Since cold weather has set in, I suspect the fetching white woolly jumper will make a return-- accompanied by some taut denim? We can but hope.

Speaking of social networking websites, Alex Deakin tweeted that he'd filmed Celebrity Mastermind the other day: "They were desperate-- most terrifying thing I've ever done".

This got me thinking-- what quiz or reality show would we like to see Tomasz on?

Finally congratulations to Matt Taylor for becoming a father, his daughter Isobel Megan was born recently-- he was telling Big Vern all about it on Radio 1

{i} R Jon was right. Calendar viewers will know what I mean.
{ii} I love the blue-striped tie too!