A Thoroughly Enjoyable Guest Appearance on the CBC’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange

A few days ago, I invited readers to play the Lang and O’Leary Exchange Bingo/Drinking Game. The producers subsequently asked if I could come in for a brief guest segment...

Kevin O’Leary points out a troublemaker
on the set of the Lang and O’Leary Exchange

I’m obviously a fan of the show, so I couldn’t exactly say no to the chance to meet Ms. Lang (and Kevin too!) in person.

Thus I found myself seated in the guest chair, beneath the bright studio lights at the CBC building in Toronto. Here’s the clip -- from the May 11, 2012 episode of The Lang and O’Leary Exchange:


[link] [If I figure out a way to extract it from the CBC stream, I’ll post a better quality version...]

I was super nervous, and it startled me when Amanda light-heartedly introduced me as ‘the brilliant mind’ behind the game. Say what?!

Yours truly in the hot seat...

It’s so easy to dismiss someone stammering on TV, but when you’re there and the lights are on and you have to say something... it’s not so easy after all [note the way I laugh!! It’s bizarre].

Nevertheless, my adventure into the heart of our nation’s public broadcaster was genuinely fun. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

What I’d change about the show (skip this part if you want)
Kevin’s query about ‘the one thing I’d change’ caught me off guard -- I should have asked that they bring in more of Jim Rickards; he’s my favorite guest and I find his nuanced, often startling perspective on currencies and the markets tremendously thought-provoking.

What I’d actually change, if I could, doesn’t involve the show itself or the content. Instead, it’s the online organization that could use minor tweaking.

The show’s website organizes episodes using a set of large thumbnails that are typically date sorted. This approach is superficially user friendly -- most of the time, you want to watch the latest episode, so you click on the first one in the grid. However, when you want to access past episodes, the deficiencies are noticeable.

The Lang & O’Leary Exchange site navigation could use improvement

Right now, there’s no easy way to search for and access past episodes on a specific topic, unless you already know the episode air dates.

My suggested tweaks would be:

• Have someone input a meaningful, keyword-oriented description for each episode, that mentions each topic discussed. Even a simple comma-delimited list of topics would suffice.
• Enable a show-specific search (not CBC site-wide).
• A list display would be nice. 

Then, you would be able to search the database to find every episode where a given company or topic is discussed, or guest appears [In a magical utopian world, every episode would be auto-transcripted by Google and full-text searchable, but that’s probably not realistic for... awhile.].

The point is making the archive of past episodes an accessible resource. What did Minister Flaherty say about the budget? What were Kevin’s exact words on the BP oil spill? etc.

Just a thought.

Thanks
I’d like to extend my thanks to:

• Amanda Lang and Kevin O’Leary for graciously accepting the gentle mockery of my game with humor; 
• the show’s producers (in particular Matt) who gave me the fantastic opportunity to come down to the studio;
• the makeup professional (whose name escapes me, alas!), the production assistant (Lisa) and the camera operator (Merdad) for putting me at ease during the setup. 

Thanks again!

See
Play the Lang and O’Leary Exchange Bingo/Drinking Game!

One minor note -- my original card did spell 'yield' correctly...

Play The Lang and O’Leary Exchange Bingo/Drinking Game!

If you’re a fan--or foe--of The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, then you know that certain familiar phrases recur in nearly every episode of the fast-paced, popular CBC Business television news program.

To enhance your appreciation of this phenomenon -- and of the show itself -- I present to you the Lang and O’Leary Exchange Bingo/Drinking Game:

Play The Lang and O’Leary Exchange Bingo/Drinking Game!
(Download your own PDF copy for printing)

Instructions
Simply watch any episode of the show, and take a shot -- or sip from your wine, if you prefer -- whenever a given idea is referenced, or a listed event occurs on the air.

Teetotallers may alternately use the game card to play Bingo.* Just spell K-E-V-I-N to win! (tipplers, take two shots if this happens)

Disclaimer/Commentary

Warning: Participants should drink responsibly and avoid driving, operating heavy machinery, or managing financial portfolios after playing the game. You are responsible for your own safety. 

Kevin O’Leary: provocateur

The game card is, obviously, heavily weighted towards voluble show co-host Kevin O’Leary, the Chairman of O’Leary Funds and who also appears on Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank.

A lot of my progressive friends can’t stand him. Which is too bad.

They fail to enjoy the deliberately provocative role the entrepreneur plays.
Nor do they respond to the undeniable on-screen chemistry he has with eponymous co-host, CBC Senior Business Correspondent Amanda Lang.

It’s a tv show -- it’s entertainment. What did you expect?

Sláinte!

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Update: Apparently Amanda and Kevin were amused; the result was a delightful guest appearance on the show...

Yours truly on The Lang & O’Leary Exchange set...

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The boring stuff...

Regarding “ankles”... 
That item is meant in the spirit of fun (as is the entire game). I acknowledge that sensitive readers might interpret that as disrespectful of Ms. Lang’s skills and ability. Why call attention to a particular aspect of her appearance? It’s sophomoric.

Amanda Lang: keen business insight

Amanda Lang is an insightful, articulate, intelligent journalist for whom I have tremendous admiration. Profiles of her in the media, nevertheless, invariably mention her looks in relation to her success.

The glass desk design on the Lang and O’Leary Exchange, when it was first introduced, elicited considerable online discussion, and even criticism -- a sign, perhaps, that we still have a lot of progress to make.

Substance versus superficiality: a central tension of contemporary television news. Hence, the playful inclusion on the card...

Sorry Amanda!!

Regarding copyright and fair dealing
The Lang and O’Leary Exchange is copyrighted by CBC/Radio Canada.

Interestingly, considering the CBC is a national public broadcaster, they have a somewhat restrictive approach to reuse permissions on their materials. Basically, it can be paraphrased as, “you probably can’t, and ask us for formal permission.” So, technically, certain elements of this post -- the images of Amanda and Kevin, and the Lang and O’Leary Exchange logo on the card -- are probably not entirely kosher -- if I were to ask some cloistered mandarin in the halls of the CBC. Which I haven’t.

That being said, the usage in this post falls into the realm of fair dealing. It’s for the purposes of criticism/review and parody:

• The market for the show is not going to be affected; 
• I’ve clearly identified the source and the performers; and
• all of the images in question are already widely distributed and available to the public from other sources on the internet. 

I posit therefore that no meaningful infringement is taking place, per the referenced definition.

I am not affiliated with the CBC. The game is not an official representation of the show, nor is this post in any way endorsed by the CBC, Amanda Lang, or Kevin O’Leary. It’s intended as a good-natured joke, and should be interpreted as such.

If you are, in fact, a cloistered mandarin from the CBC and are taking umbrage -- my sincere apologies... Also: I left out David Kaufman for the Guest Host square; just couldn’t fit him in...

* Regarding drinking
Yes, I have read Cold Hard Truth and did note the allusions to dipsomania in Kevin’s family history. He’s got a pretty thick skin and I don’t imagine he’d mind. Ultimately, it’s a Drinking Game... See Disclaimer above. Gee whiz.

Enjoy the game! Please feel free to share, link or repost should you find this game amusing.