Snorkling snaps

Tomasz has entertained us with a hat-trick of links on Facebook today. First a link from Nasa. Tomasz comments:
How complex is our Climate: Here, in the UK, we've just been breaking records when it comes to winter weather and *yet*, 2010 (and 2005) was overall the warmest year on record across the planet-- when all is averaged out. Seems that many places are warming but some areas are actually cooling. I know where we are!

Secondly ring inspections reveal why the Roman Empire may have fallen; nothing to do with the Bottom Inspectors in Viz, but a reference to tree-rings. Finally the lame title of today's blog-post, alludes to this National Geographic piece, about a Thai person diving down somewhere fishy and staying down a long time. There are stage-shows like that in Thailand-- so I hear.

In other news, Tomasz finds this weekend's weather grey, but "waaaarm". I thought Tomasz was from Gdansk, not South Yorkshire. Az tha bin t'Baaarnsleh lad, tha knaws? Sithee.

No news as to Tomasz's future: Given that Rob McElwee did his last onscreen performance last week, I imagine Tomasz's Met Office contract has elapsed. No news from Tomasz, is good news. To use modern parlance {i}, I hope His Loveliness is 'cool' at present.



{i} I is down widda kids, innit blud.

Sad blog of the week

Having decided to persue a vendatta against Tomasz, the Daily Wail now has his colleagues in their sights, with the following:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329317/Another-storm-BBC-weather-forecasters-threaten-strikes.html

Of course they can't resist a swipe at Tomasz, he's "popular despite courting controversy". Only if you're a Daily Mail journo (or one of the paper's misanthropic readers); where being a cover star on Attitude, being Polish-born and wearing V-necker jumper/jeans on Country Tracks is a hanging offence.

Of course the Daily Mail is the paragon of moral rectitude, so it's never wrong: Except the weather forecasters in question are Met Office employees, not the BBC's. Nor does it mention that the paper is affiliated with ITV (no bias there then) via Northcliffe. Also Tomasz, Rob McElwee and Phil Avery will become "weather duty managers", even though they "failed to impress" (quoth DM) with "team leadership skills".

Then we have the rational critique from the upstanding audience of the Daily Mail, in the comments section. Summed up as thus....
} "They're typical, prima-donna public-sector workers".
Yeah all public-sector workers earn shed-loads, have gold-plated pensions and are pampered at work. In DM world they do at least.

} "Tomasz is always puts his foot in it/messes up. He's an oddbod and needs to put back-office, put him in his place, wings clipped".
Really? Every single one of his broadcasts? Of course DM readers never make mistakes. If they do, they don't and can't laugh about it. They got and birch themselves instead. By "odd", they mean Tomasz is jovial, has a sense of humour and is too gorgeous for his own good. Why should he have his "wings clipped". Can't have him upsetting miserable folk with little self-esteem can we?

Apparently he "brought the whole BBC into disrepute [re middle-finger]". Alright he wasn't particularly professional, but the overwhelming response was that of humour and sympathy. Certainly I didn't see a marauding mob marching to White City to burn a pyre of LF recepits, with Tomasz as the guy.

} "Get rid of the likes of Tomasz, Alex Deakin, Carol Kirkwood-- get the newsreader to do it. Their celeb status is undeserved. Well-loved? Hardly, they wouldn't be missed. Only the weather-geeks care".
Let's not have qualified experts doing the forecast, who have some personality. Not popular? This blog gets a hundred visits a day, and the superb Dan Corbett blog is not exactly unfurnished with visits either.

} "They're always pregnant".
The female ones of course... in the world of the DM, they should in the kitchen. Preferably making your dinner; can't have women getting to cocky in the workplace now, can we.

} "Want to know the weather? Look outside/look on the net/pine-cone"
That's helpful, if you want to know what the weather/temperature is going to be like in the *following* days, isn't it? Of course DM readers can see into the future, because they know everything will go wrong-- so it's always gloomy in their world! Not everyone has time to go on the net and interpret complex satellite data either.

If the BBC let the Met Office sacked the weather-presenters, the DM fraternity would be in outrage; complaining the BBC is dumbing again, what is it spending the LF on, blah-blah

Well Schaffanatics, would you rather look at a lump of seaweed or pinecone-- or watch/listen to Tomasz? I rest my case.

A few nice comments about Tomasz. Kamil says he is "so fit" (how did that slip past the DM censors); another who says it's a household event chez lui, to watch Tomasz alone-- just to see if he slips-up (backhanded or what?). Finally "keep Tomasz and lash the rest". Errmm... yeah...

I can imagine this their favourite song at the Daily Heil...



Meanwhile, this is Private Eye's take on things!


PS: Tomasz on tomorrow, lunchtime shift (inc News At One, end of You & Yours plus News Channel)

Update

Czesc all.

Many thanks for the kind comments yesterday; not just about my blog, but expressing support for the good man himself. His agent Tim Reed, released this statement yesterday:

"I'm shocked that due to restructuring the Met Office have taken the decision to remove Tomasz from any on air presence. Tomasz and I are still waiting for feedback from the Met Office as to why he hasn't been chosen to remain in the broadcasting team. Nobody at the BBC has ever expressed any dissatisfaction to either Tomasz or me about the standard of his work."
Tim Reed Management

I have praise for the Daily Mirror today, who reported the news without any snide remarks. In fact they were charming about him: Calling him a "hunk" (damn right!), stating he was a "rising star" and recognise his "cult" status. They were also matter-of-fact about Attitude and his 'incidents' in the past. So good on Tom Bryant.

Shame the commenters on the story can't be as charming, one doubting his status as a "hunk". Oh dear! So what if has an agent-- it's Tomasz who pays for that-- not the BBC! Besides, Fiona Bruce doing Antiques Roadshow doesn't make her any less of a newsreader. On a side-note, I was intrigued to see the Mirror reporting that five presenters are going too-- who are the other two I wonder?

I was slightly disappointed with The Independent, who said that Tomasz "has built up a cult following despite a series of on-screen gaffes". I suspect the journo who wrote that, doesn't appreciate that the way Tomasz deals with his slip-ups, is the reason he is adored: He's not afraid to laugh at himself, and encourages to others to do so (plus he does such an excellent job the rest of the time). To be fair, the article does call him "popular", and points out his TRIC award.

Pink News have also reported on it, rather unkindly listing all his "gaffes" (although I can't take any a publication seriously, that uses that ghastly term "the gay community"). However at least they conceded the fans were angry at the decision.

Unsurprisingly Sky News concentrate on the negatives, not unlike Mr Murdoch to bash the Beeb of course! I wonder if they reported on Adam Boulton's rant at Alistair Campbell, or Kay Burley's controversies with such zeal?
.

Although kind towards Rob McElwee and Phil Avery (fair enough), The Daily Telegraph was probably the meanest of the lot towards The Schaf. I quote: "Like the early mist that burns off as the sun strengthens, he will leave behind an ill-defined impression on the viewer's memory, apart from having once been caught on camera making a rude gesture". Really? What about his huge Fbk following, this blog, Youtube clips and the award?

I think on many a person's mind, he has left a very nice impression (especially that with Attitude shoot!).It's amazing how many people seem to be under the impression that Msrs McElwee and Avery are "proper" meteorlogists, when all the BBC national weather forecasters have degrees in meteorology. Also the BBC forecasts talk about the jet-stream and isobars; Tomasz certainly does, as my blog has shown frequently.

Still, somebody at the Daily Torygraph has some brain-cells to rub together, and this nice column shows

On a brighter note, ATV Network was charitable about Tomasz, especially over the Middle Finger saga. The article also talks of his popularity and "down to earth approach". Not only that, it features three highly supportive messages posted on the Facebook site, suggesting it sums up the prevalent mood. Shame that a commenter called "thepark" spits vitriol at him beneath it, all that bile has obviously given him/her a selective memory and the inability to use capital-letters or punctuation correctly. I'm sure you lovely Schaffanatics can can put him/her right, eh?

Overall I think it's a shame that so many reports and people seem to be concentrating on his "gaffes" all the time, and trying to knock him. The irony is most reports have concentrated on Tomasz; why would they do that, if he isn't popular? I don't mean any disrepect to Phil Avery or Rob McElwee when I say that, by the way.

It's as if he blunders all the time, and they ignore the rest of his forecasts: Engaging, intelligent, good-humoured and cheerful (yes and handsome!)-- the things that make him popular. They ignore the fact that other presenters have had blunders; where's the vitriol for Laura Tobin, after her mobile phone incident? Or Richard Edgar for talking of "shitty weather"?

And I note nobody has mentioned Tomasz's charity bike-rides in these articles; without the help of his fans, he wouldn't have raised such huge amounts of money for good causes, out of all his trouble. Or that talk he did at East Sheen Library.

I can only imagine some bitter journalists and internet trolls feel threatened by somebody who is stunningly good-looking, popular and charismatic-- I really hope Beeb bosses don't pay much attention to them. We have seen popular presenters (on shows well-suited for them) moved on, because of sour bosses. I hope Tomasz doesn't become one of those victims.

I, and doubtless my many readers, will support you Tomasz-- whatever happens.

Sad news

A rather sombre note today. I apologise in adavance for the length of this post, it may be my last for a while...

If a certain report is true, it appears that Tomasz is to taken away from presenting duties and given a backroom job instead-- along with Rob McElwee and Phil McAvery. This (reportedly) is owing to cost-cutting measures on the part of the Met Office-- and with BBC input no doubt.

Here is said article. I must give you a health warning first, it's from the Daily Mail (where else), so keep the Optrex at hand....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1320129/BBC-axe-3-weather-presenters-including-Tomasz-Schafernaker-cost-cutting-drive.html

If cut-backs have to be made, I can perhaps understand the rationale for Rob McElwee and Phil Avery, given they are nearer retirement age than the others. I would stress I have nothing against them personally: I rather like Rob's wry style and dry asides. Phil has a very clear broadcasting voice, and gives authoritative forecasts-- so it will be a shame to see them disappear.

Of course my focus is on Tomasz, and I am sad to hear this news-- as well as bemused. Lest we forget, Tomasz won a TRIC award earlier this year, with full praise from his BBC and Met Office superiors-- and rightly so. All the BBC weather-presenters had to re-apply for the job; despite his popularity and award, he didn't cut the grade for broadcasting to the nation. Oh my days.

You'll notice the DM here is making snide remarks about him, calling him "gaffe-prone", "controversial" and "Polish-born" {i}. Apparently in the Daily Mail's world, somebody posing in "skimpy" {ii} shorts for a gay magazine (the decadence), is "controversial". I can only imagine that their journalists have not been down to beach or swimming-pool recently.

I really hope Tomasz's superiors haven't made this decision on Tomasz's supposedly 'frequent' gaffes, given that all his fellow forecasters (not just Phil or Rob) make errors occasionally. Tomasz's gaffes come to the fore because of the way he adorably reacts, plus Terratec and I flag them up-- to right-thinking people's amusement. His "obscene" middle-finger gesture... admittedly not advisable, but it he's not exactly Frank Bough, is he? Besides the BBC/Met Office didn't sack Michael Fish or Bill Giles, for failing to predict a massive gale that flattened half of Southeast England 23 years ago this month.

I think it's a crazy decision-- because Tomasz is undoubtedly popular. He has thousands of followers on Facebook, this blog gets over hundred hits most days {iii}, he got plenty support after the middle-finger incident and most intelligent posters write nice things about him on Youtube {iv}.

Even on the DM's comments pages, there were nice comments for Tomasz. Usually they are replete with absolutist comments with certain words written LIKE THIS, to signal that unironic hyperbole and a lack of perspective are contained therein; accusing something of [insert supposed threat] gone mad, without realising they are equally mad (if more so).

Of course there were some people on certain forums who took schadenfreude at the news about Tomasz, we can't have weather presenters being exceedingly handsome and having personalities (especially if they are quirky {v}), can we now? Others were taking the General Cheeseburger approach to all Beeb weather-forecasts: "Round them up, put them in a field and bomb the bastards".

However there were some kind souls stating that Tomasz brightens their days, and he's adorable. Puce-face DM-readers and green-eyed monsters seem to forget that beyond the occasional infamous gaffe, Tomasz does a superb job; he presents the weather in an entertaining way and doesn't dumb down.

Even though his Facebook-followers lament his absence when he's not for a few days, his superiors allegedly think he's not good for onscreen presenting-- apparently giving the nebulous reason of not having "team-leadership" skills. I'd like to the criteria for this! He certainly leads his 'team' of viewers well, I'd imagine his Facebook feedback is only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps Tomasz is *too* charismatic?

Speaking of which, this has got me wondering. Is there some ulterior reasoning behind all this? In the time I've been doing this blog, Tomasz has: Got himself an agent, posed for Attitude, set-up his own professional website, done a mammoth bike-ride, set up his own Facebook page, blog plus publicised his Twitter, appeared on prime-time Saturday telly and has developed a very distinctive presenting style. He has culviated a cult following, and rightly so.

Perhaps he saw this decision coming, and these recent 'showbiz' forays, are an indication of preparing for the future. I have had a few emails of late suggesting that Tomasz wouldn't stay within the realms of weather-forecasting for much longer, perhaps these prophesies were informed than I could ever know.

The most worrying part of the article is, that "at least [sic] two of them were later offered jobs as 'team leaders' in a production role". I hope one was Tomasz, it doesn't say of course, although the focus of the article was omniously on His Loveliness.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1320129/BBC-axe-3-weather-presenters-including-Tomasz-Schafernaker-cost-cutting-drive.html#ixzz12Ga0LXMg

I can't see somebody of The Schaf's calibre and immense talent disappearing off screens for long. Not least because of protest from us devotees, but see I can many a canny telly producer approaching his agent for gigs! Somebody who will appreciate his talents, and not see him shunted off to back office somewhere (that's if the DM has got its story straight).

He could possibly end up on ITV, Five, Channel 4 or Sky of course. He could even wind up at a BBC region (probably not Scotland!); I doubt at BBC East Midlands, who have a plethora of presenters-- including the Des Coleman (for it is he). So I doubt he will be moving down the road from me soon (damn!)

I just want to wish Tomasz all the best whatever he does in the future (again if the DM article is true?), it would be a shame if he didn't brighten up our screens once again. What will Simon McCoy do?

Some sad blighters out there may not be able to handle gorgeous people with charisma and warmth, but here at the The Schaf we can worship him!



I do apologise to Tomasz and anybody else if any of the details from the article aren't accurate, please feel free to pass comment-- especially if The Divine One himself is reading!


{i} Yeah bloody foreigner/immigrant. Come over, here stealing our jobs...
{ii} Showing too much ankle probably
{iii} I doubt that's because of my scribings!
{iv} The ones who aren't semi-literate, and know the correct meaning of the word "fail". It means to not succeed at all, rather than a minor slip-up.
{v} Sad to see Dan Corbett getting stick on those comments too. Where would be without his "finishing numbers" and "pic-nic basket". Those who diss Dan, can "whoosh" right off.