A nervous Blork called me yesterday afternoon. He had just been asked to talk about blogging on national tv and he wanted a little coaching as well as some moral support. So at 6pm I picked him up at metro Beaudry and off we went to the CBC building.
As we were having a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria, I played show host and asked Blork a few questions about blogging. I was having fun with the usual « Aren’t bloggers all freaks, geeks and afraid of personal contacts? ». « How can bloggers claim to be journalists? » Heh heh… Sweet revenge for all the times I get asked these questions!
At 7:15, we met up with the technician/cameraman who took us to the very empty studios used by CBC Newsworld. Blork was going to be on Canada Now and talk remotely with the show host, Kathleen Petty, based in Calgary. The set up was done quickly and after a few sound tests proving that Blork can indeed count to 10, we just had to wait for his big claim to fame. The cameraman was kind enough to give me a headset just like Blork’s so that I could also hear the questions from the host. I felt like his agent, reminding him to sit straight, relax his shoulders and smile.
During a commercial break, the show host chatted with Blork and gave him a few instructions. She noticed a sound problem and the cameraman frantically tried to get a new microphone on before it was time for Blork to go on air. They barely made it! As it is the case with most remote segments, Blork couldn’t see the show host and had to look at the camera, pretending to have a face to face conversation. Believe me, it’s not as easy as it seems but he did it like a pro!
The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes and it went very well. Blork was eloquent, friendly and looked amazingly at ease. Who knew he was such a natural? It helped that the show host was funny and warm. They sounded like old buddies chatting.
We came back home and even though he was now a tv star, Blork still modestly cooked me dinner. When I checked my e-mail, I found an hilarious picture sent by my brother-in-law showing my two nephews next to Blork on tv.
Curious? Check out the little slideshow I put together about our Tuesday night outing at CBC. (The navigation arrows are on the top right.)
Now if anybody knows how to get a damn file out of my PVR into my computer, I’ll be able to show you the segment…
