Windbag
by Scott Hardie on July 3, 2007
I don't know what Polaroids he has of whom, but somehow Tom Skilling has elevated himself to some kind of all-important weather-broadcasting god. When I grew up in Chicago, I watched him gradually get a bigger and bigger budget for his animated graphics, and gradually get a larger and larger timeframe to deliver his dull reports. By the time I left town, he had a whole 20 minutes of the hour-long midday newscast for the fucking weather, and boy did he find trivia to fill it: Average dew points across Cook County on this day in 1854, theta-e temperature predictions for every Cubs home game next season, you name it. Minutes would drag on while he blathered about a topic that is the very definition of "small talk," apparenty self-convinced of his critical importance to Chicagoans.
That said, imagine my reaction today while scanning the concise, no-nonsense, three-paragraph bios of the rest of the WGN news staff when I came upon Skilling's bio. Can you imagine being trapped in an elevator with this asshole?
Six Replies to Windbag
Aaron Shurtleff | July 3, 2007
I don't know nothin' about nothin' when it comes to this man, but I would not parade around that I had worked on a "special" which was called "Ten Inches of Partly Sunny".
That's not right!
But seriously, yeah, that's horrible!
Anna Gregoline | July 3, 2007
I couldn't even get through half of it without wanting to puke. Yeah. I turn to him to figure out the mysteries of freaking nature. What a blow-hard.
Scott Hardie | July 3, 2007
Hehe, well put.
Lori, forgive my hazy memory on this, but didn't you once meet Skilling and like him? I remember a female friend telling me about it, but that was many years ago and the details escape me now.
Anyway, to Lori or anyone else, sorry if I've caused offense. The guy gets on my nerves but I know he has a fan base across Chicagoland.
Anna Gregoline | July 4, 2007
My favorite news name? Dane Placko! That's a real name!!!!
I don't watch the news though, if I can possibly help it - I like to read the news.
Amy Austin | July 5, 2007
Ditto on what Aaron said, but *skimming* the bio gave me a chuckle on the phrase "weatherman's weatherman" -- ha!
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
R.I.P. Pam
Pam was a co-worker from the 2000s who recently passed away. Kelly worked with her much more closely than I did, sharing a cubicle space with her for years and getting to know her very well, though I had plenty of conversations with her too. She was always ready with a compliment or a joke or a homemade treat, and she was a source of light in a job that could be quite a grind some days. Go »Eulogy for Two or Possibly Three Restaurants
Dining in Sarasota at 10:30pm on a Friday night is not the easiest proposition. I took my friends Miah and Ines downtown to the only non-franchise I knew would still be open, an upscale sports-themed bar & grill called Patrick's. I've had fifteen or so great meals there, but not last night. Go »February 10-16
I don't really blog much about my day-to-day existence because it feels too mundane. But life is made up of those little days, and we don't get an accurate picture of each other's lives if we only discuss the big events. Here's a snapshot of my life last week. Go »The Phoenix
This is the last of four weekly blog posts about diagnoses that have completely changed my life since the pandemic started, after The Dragon, The Tiger, and The Serpent. I saved the lightest one for last. Many people who discover later in life that they're neurodivergent have reported spending years aware of the symptoms and signs of their condition without ever considering that the description might apply to them, and when they do finally realize, it's as if a thousand mysteries are solved at once: Things that never made sense are all suddenly explained. Go »Newer Neighbors Upstairs
"That's the fucking truth!" "You're a fucking idiot!" "Shut the fuck up before I slap your ugly head!" Go »
Scott Hardie | July 3, 2007
Footnote: Way to go, Robin Baumgarten. I got ready for school every morning listening to her brief traffic reports and thinking that this woman was way too charismatic and savvy to keep cooped up in a helicopter. Sure enough, today she anchors the entire morning broadcast.
And Paul Konrad is a very funny man.