• NeptuneSite broke the news today that Kevin is scheduled to appear as a convenience store clerk (how priceless is that?) on the UPN hit “Veronica Mars” this fall. The episode is set to air October 5th. His character is named “Duane Anders”, and he’ll be filming the spot THIS WEEK! Surf NeptuneSite for all the latest “Veronica” news, and thanks to Craig for giving us the news as soon as he verified it.

• Another memorable week is now in the books, and Kevin’s got “Silent Bob Speaks” up to date, as always, in verbose, revealing, and detailed fashion. It was a great week of revelations and detail yet again, one which we highly recommend you check out page-by-page yourself. For the record, though, here’s a summary of August 1st through August 7th:

• The “Evening 2” DVD will clock in at 4 hours, with a lengthy Degrassi story hidden on the Toronto disc as an easter egg.
• Kevin’s Chicago Q&A appearance was a blast and a huge success, with signings, an extended Q&A session, and even some poker winnings. Kevin reveals that his Powers appearance may actually not be him, but given as a gift to someone. He also raised $2k more for charity by offering a Clerks 2 walk-on role for bids.
• High praise and a recommendation for superhero film “Sky High”.
• A nice 35th birthday haul of goodies and a surprise party take place at “Lucky Strike” in Hollywood.
• Kevin reveals that he’ll be starting a new diet plan which involves only liquid shakes for a few months.

The Silent Bob Speaks blog continues to be the most revealing, honest, detailed diary you’ll find anywhere online. It’s rare to find such honesty in life, and even more rare to find it from such a public figure as Kevin. Enjoy it, and as always, get the full monty at silentbobspeaks.com!

• Ah, we gotta say, it’s great to have Kevin wrapped on “Catch” and back Stateside, we certainly dig the frequent updates and news coming in these days. Today, we’ll kick it off with the lively, beautiful Mallrats X jacket. You’ve seen the cover, now check out the complete wraparound and feature list — It’s another packed set, and one you’ll definitely want to preorder a signed copy of as soon as possible. September 20th is getting close! Can you feel the excitement!?!? We’re currently chatting with Universal about nabbing a pre-release copy, so watch this site for an early look and review of what’s certain to be another gem to add to your growing View Askew DVD collection.

• We hope everyone enjoyed the premiere of Kevin and Jay on Degrassi here in the States on Friday. Metro, a free local paper in NYC, had a shot of the duo and a nice little blurb out the show. Check NOGGIN for reruns, and of course tune in next Friday night for 2 of 3!
• The Landmark Sunshine theatre in New York City is holding two midnight screenings of the great Mallrats next weekend, August 19th and 20th (Friday and Saturday). This has always proven to be one of the most enjoyable Askew flicks to watch with a big midnight crowd, so we’re calling it a don’t-miss if you’re in the area. Should be a blast!
• This blurb comes to us today from the Celeb Gossip Q&A that USA Today runs:

• A thread in the forum area of Concert News Site “LiveDaily” has picked up Kevin’s blog entry about Springsteen lryics. Folks are chatting it up and digging Kevin’s always insightful musings.

• And finally today, a thanks and a shout out to Ming for hooking us up with a couple nice goodies this week — We cannot recommend enough the stylish Clerks caps, HUGE and colorful bobbles, and, of course, the rarer-by-the-second Kevin inaction figures (which may already be sold out by the time you read this — act fast!). All this stuff is available in Stash stores and online, and we gotta tell you, the quality’s never been better. This stuff all makes perfect gifts, for you OR someone you like. See ya next time!

• Some more goodies from the Ortega vault today — Shots from the most recent celebrity signing at Stash west for the Degrassi Next Generation DVDs. As always, detail, up close and personal, like never before. Enjoy, and thanks, Albert.

• Kevin’s completed some new blog entires, and now has the second half of July totally on the books. Read about the “Catch And Release” wrap party, a nice explanation on the Black Cat/Spidey book lateness (which we may reprint here for historical purposes), and the reveal that Kevin will indeed be planning Mallrats X and Degrassi DVD signings (we assume, at Stash West) and that the brilliant Alex Ross might also be paying a visit for a session. Also, this interesting tidbit on what’s bound to be the most RARE inaction figure ever:

Alright, so who doesn’t want theirs?

We know many of you have been patiently waiting for this, and are sure that Kevin has lots more to come, as he settles back in Cali and preps for some Clerks 2 shooting (which we assume will go into full force after these just-announced Degrassi episodes are taped). Read all the bloggy goodness at the always brutually honest and detailed Silent Bob Speaks: “My Boring-Ass Life” site! Thanks for your patience, and watch for Kevin’s updates to continue soon.

• This morning’s edition of California radio program “The Sarah and No Name Show” had the duo discussing Kevin “stealing” their producer Matty, for what they claimed would be Kevin’s own talk show, starting soon. The show would air once a week, they claimed. Nothing solid at this point, but given Kevin’s recently enjoyable radio gigs, we wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Kevin taking up the mic once a week for a broadcast. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more about this developing story. And, as always, you west-coasters keep your ears open for us!

• If you’re like us, you can’t get enough of the View Askew inaction figures series. We just love the way these things look on the shelf and each set just seems to out-cool the last. So, naturally, when we heard they were making Kevin Smith figures, variants for many of his con appearances this year, we just knew they’d be a hot item.

Lucky for you, if you weren’t able to attend Wizard World San Diego, the SD variant of the Kevin Smith inaction figure IS now available for purchase through the Stash. However, we MUST warn you, a VERY limited amount were made, and these things are very likely going to sell out before the week is out. Do NOT wait, order one (or two or more) now, because they don’t do new runs of these, and Bob Chapman told us that the last variant was basically impossible to keep in stock (it’s now long gone).

$15 each, and you’ll own a rare piece of View Askew merch. Do not hesitate.

• Here’s some big news for today — Kevin and Jay will be BACK in two episodes for the next season of Degrassi: The Next Generation! This is the first we’ve heard of the gig, which differs from the Degrassi FILM Kevin is hoping to direct (currently searching for a studio home). The New York Daily News reports:

Judging from the newsbite above, we’re guessing they’ll be back early in the season, though perhaps not right at the start. Stay tuned, this one’s still hot off the coals.

• Entertainment Weekly gives HIGH praise (an A-!) to this Friday’s debut of Kevin and Jay stateside on “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, though mistakenly credit Kev for the directing duties — Note Kevin doesn’t direct this debut episode, OR either of the two that follow:

We’ve shipped a correction over to EW as well. FYI – Philip Earnshaw directs this week, Graeme Campbell directs weeks two and three.