• We’ve got some interesting tidbits for ya from Kevin today, so let’s let them roll on without any delay:

• On attending cons this year: “I’ll be going to all the Cons this year, starting with WonderCon, followed by WizardCon Los Angeles, WizardCon Philly, San
  Diego ComiCon, and WizardCon Chicago.” (Editor’s note: This also makes us wonder/hope that the Kevin Smith exclusive figures will also roll out along
  with these cons in ‘05!)
• On Stash West: “Granted, the West Coast Stash is easier to get good guests at, because it’s located in L.A. – where most of the good
  guests are (word has it Quentin was in the other night, and you can be damn skippy I’m gonna hit him up for an in-store the day his mega edition of “Kill
  Bill” Vols. I and II come out), but the East Coast Stash’s got Walt, man. As a regular fixture. Plus, in visiting the East Coast Stash, you can also visit
  actual locations from the flicks. Out here? Not so much.” (Editor’s note: TARANTINO!?!?! Just tell us when to reserve the plane tickets. We’re there.)
• On Stash Comics Mail Order: “It’s coming, actually – as part of this weird, cool promotion that folks here will dig.” (You can also check out a list of
  what Kevin’s been reading HERE along with a nifty new avatar which obviously comes
  from the Degrassi shoot).
• On ticket scalpers for his Toronto gig: “I heard someone bought a ticket for three hundred bucks.”
• On the possibility of a Jersey Girl script book: “Doubtful. Maybe it’ll be published with another screenplay in the future – like the “Clerks/Chasing Amy” screenplay.”
• And finally on future Vulgarthons and screenings in LA: “We were trying to hold a Vulgarthon out here, but none of the theaters in Westwood were helpful.
  The NuArt couldn’t help us out either. So we’re still looking. Other than that, I can’t think of any screenings/Q&A’s coming up in the L.A. area in the near future. ”

There ya have it folks. As always, check in at View Askew’s WWWBoard frequently, as you never know when someone famous might stop by. And all of us
“common folk” that post there are a good lot, too.

• We’ve added some captions to the previous story featuring photos from the Lee signing at the Stash last week. So, feel free to surf
  on back (or scroll down, depending on your current browsing day) to check that out.
• The Carolina Film and Video Festival has confirmed View Askew auteur Vincent Pereira as a judge for 2005. Vincent will probably also give
  a lecture/seminar on filmmaking during one day of the festival, though that has yet to be determined.

The CFVF is the oldest continually running film festival in North or South Carolina. It is an annual production of the film school at the University of
North Carolina-Greensboro. 2005 marks the festival’s 27th anniversary. The festival dates are February 23-26, 2005.

Entries are currently being accepted in a variety of genres. Please see carolinafilmandvideofestival.org for more information on the festival,
including application materials and ticket information. There are thousands of dollars worth of cash prizes for winning films/scripts. Go to
Greensboro and check out some great independent films, or better yet — enter a film of your own for a chance to have it judged by Vincent himself.

• We’ve got a scan of Jason Lee’s Stuff article that we mentioned last week for you now. The article
  covers his skating background.

• Lee is also listed in the new issue of People Magazine (Dec. 13th). He is included in a top ten list of odd celebrity children’s names
  and managed to come in at number two with his son, Pilot Inspektor. The scan of all 10 is right here for ya.
• In case you’re not watching one of the best new shows of the year, “Lost”, perhaps this is more incentive – View Askew fave (and occasional
  cameo-er) Paul Dini is on board writing episodes and backstories for some of the characters. Last week’s episode was a real rush — If you’re not tuning
  in, we suggest you start. Wednesdays on ABC (soon to be followed by the equally awesome Alias!).
• George Carlin will be doing stand up at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas on January 15th. Tickets are on sale now.

• And finally today: The new issue of Entertainment Weekly has a small article on how the movie version of the “Da Vinci Code” will be appealing to Catholic
  organizations (like the Opus Dei) in an attempt to not piss them off. The article starts “It’s one thing to arouse the ire of Christian groups with indie
  films like ‘Dogma’ or ‘Priest.'” At the end, EW gets a quote from out old friend, the Catholic League’s Willam Donahue where he says “Why not have a
  disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that this based on a novel [and] does not purport to be fact?” Then he would “have zero problem.”

Wow – Who knew that that was all they had to do with Dogma to stop the protests – Say it’s fiction? Huh. See ya next time…

• We got some great exclusive pictures from yesterday’s West Coast Stash signing here to share with everyone. Looks like they had a great turn-out and everyone had a chance to get there stuff signed by the time they were finished around 10 pm. If you were there, drop us a line and send in your pictures. Make sure you check out the AMAZING artwork Jim Lee left behind inside the Stash.

	Jim is mystified with Joe’s unique eating style while Sandra get hit upon by attendee posing as “biggest fan”. “Hey Sandra, who do you think is stronger, the Thing or the Hulk?” Guess who didn’t get Sandra’s phone number?
	Jim looking up for a moment to let his Sharpie cool off a little. Jim and the Wildstorm crew signed and provided sketches for the great crowd that showed up. All in attendance had a great time!!
	Rich Friend (inker on Authority and Batman), Carlos D’Anda (penciller on the Outsiders, Bionicles and Deathblow) and Sandra Hope (inker on the Intimates and Robin), critique the work of some talented upstart!!
	Jay & Silent Bob met the Wildstorm Comics crew. From left to right: Carlos D’Anda, Rich Friend, Sandra Hope, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Jim Lee, AliGarza and Joe Casey (w/shades!!)
	Jim Lee standing in from of his masterpiece. Soon after he was overheard saying, “I’ve drawn my last comic page. I’ve finally discovered the medium that best suits my talents.” Soon after, Stash staff removed the door from it’s hinges in order to place for sale on eBay.
	Here’s Jim’s piece sans Jim. Rumors are running rampant of a potential crossover mini-series, Superman and Batman meet the Doobage Duo!! More info on this later!!

We’ll be back later with more news…

• Though the date has since changed, and won’t be late January or early February any longer (see below),
  Kevin has at least revealed some interesting details on the upcoming GB Q&A session, the second and final filming taking
  place for the DVD. Ladies, take note, there’s a portion that will be of great interest to you if you’re planning to
  attend:

Stay tuned to News Askew as we’ll have details on when you can get tix, as well as a show date, as soon as possible.

• You know, it’s funny how things can change so fast on this crazy internet. Earlier today Kevin posted some information concerning the upcoming London Q&A, but later he had some more great news to share with everyone. It looks like the film Kevin & Scott produced, “REEL PARADISE”, has been selected for inclusion in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Steve James, “REEL PARADISE” is a documentary that follows indie-icon John Pierson’s family as they move to Fiji for a year to run the world’s most remote movie theater. Kevin said he will also be filming a new piece for his ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS series, for The Tonight Show, from Sundance. Once a new date has been ironed out for the London Q&A, we’ll be sure to let everyone know.

• While skimming through the latest issue of Wizard (#159) I came across this cool ad for the upcoming Los Angeles Wizard World convention. This will be another great chance to see Kevin and Jay live and in person! The event will be running March 18-20, 2005.

• Comic-con.org reports that Kevin will be one of the main guests at 2005’s Wonder Con in sunny San Francisco, California. This is slated to be the first big comics event of 2005 and the guest list looks swell. It will be happening on Presidents weekend, which is February 18-20, 2005. Kevin will likely take a break from filming Clerks 2 to give attendees the lowdown on what’s next in the View Askew Universe.

We also expect he might have some raw footage (should filming have started), the usual autograph and Q&A sessions, and maybe even a con-exclusive toy or two! Stay tuned for more info as we learn it.

• According to Terry Dodson, artist of “Spider-Man/Black Cat: Evil That Men Do”, on his Yahoo Group, he has now received Kevin’s script to issues # 4 and 5 of the mini-series. He won’t start working on it until he wraps up his current committments and Kevin finishes the story (This leaves only issue #6 to be written to conclude things).
• On Monday, we mentioned that Clerks was #50 on 411maina.com’s 100 Movie list. Well, Dogma showed up at #88 and Chasing Amy shows up at, what else, #69. They haven’t posted numbers 20-1 so there’s still room for the rest of the films.