April Fool’s Day

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone!

Did you play any pranks this morning? I woke up too late to try any of the ones from OWL’s April DIY story (though I at least wanted to cover the tops of some shampoo bottles with cellophane…). I’ve been on the alert all day, though, ready to find out my clocks have been set back an hour or something. Come to think of it, maybe I can do that to Mandy or Susan right now…

What’s the best prank you’ve ever played or had played on you? Post a comment at the bottom of this post and tell me all about it.

Finally, here’s a super-funny YouTube clip to help you get in the spirit of the day (not pranks so much as silly stunts, but still totally awesome). Check it out:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_QL1kEmH4]

Hilarious!

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com

P.S. One final note on April Fool’s pranks. It looks like we “punk’d” ourselves over here at OWL and forgot to print an answer in the April issue. In “Weird Zone,” we challenged you to spot the fake fact, but we didn’t remember to tell you which one was fake. The answer: “An Apple a Day.” There is no Gran E. Smith, and, even if there is, she doesn’t live in Winnipeg. Sorry about that!

Happy birthday, Quebec!

As many of you already know, it’s Quebec City’s 400th birthday this year. To help celebrate, OWL and chickaDEE co-sponsored a cool art contest that will send one lucky winner to Quebec City for the birthday festivities this summer.

The contest challenged kids to draw something related to Quebec City. (Samuel de Champlain, anyone?) Unfortunately the deadline has come and gone for new entries, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still participate. In fact, you can help decide the winner!

Click here to go vote for your favourite of the 10 finalist drawings. And may the best artist win!

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com

First! OWL! Blog! Ever!

Hello and welcome to the first ever OWL editor blog. When we decided to launch this I had no idea what I was going to talk about. My life? Your lives? Our lives? So I came up with 10 reasons for writing the blog in the first place. Ready? Here we go!

10) It’s fun! Besides, being the OWL editor takes time — just not as much as you’d think.

9) I needed something to do while waiting for the March Madness basketball tournament to start. (Go Tar Heels!)

8) I like receiving and answering mail. Email me with a question and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming blog. (Sample question: “Hey, Craig. Why are you writing a blog?”)

7) I needed a place to talk about funny stuff that happens around the office. For instance, every time we put an issue together, Susan (OWL’s amazing art director) tries to put my head on a female body on the Contents page. One time, she even succeeded. Next to my letter in the January/February 2007 issue, my picture sits atop the body of a female robot. It’s pretty hilarious. That is, for everyone but me!

6) I needed another place to talk about basketball.

5) I like reviewing things. We rarely have enough space to review everything in “What’s Hot and What’s Not.” My favourite underrated movie of 2007? Stardust. Check it out on DVD if you get the chance. It’s a must for fantasy fans.

4) I really, really like basketball.

3) I wanted you guys to have more stuff to check out on our website. While we’re here, what kind of stuff do you want to see on the OWL site? Drop me a line with your ideas.

2) I like gloating to the other editors of OWL. Ha, Jackie! Take that, Mandy! I got a blog and you don’t. (Just kidding. In fact, you’ll be seeing some other OWL staffers on here from time to time. It’s not just The Craig Show, you know.)

1) I needed an excuse to write more Top 10 lists. Next week, Top 10 pieces of farming equipment!

Until then…

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWYRl1MGAqY]

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com