• Kevin’s guest shot on UPN’s “Veronica Mars” gets some cyber-ink in this MSN TV article on the show. Here’s the cyber-clippage:

…The personal connections continued in the episode “Drivers Ed,” in which Veronica returns to the convenience store and meets clerk Duane Anders, played by writer/director Kevin Smith (”Clerks,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma”).

Smith comes to “Mars” because of his friendship with producer Dan Etheridge, who has acted in three of Smith’s films: “Dogma,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (with Smith as Silent Bob) and “Jersey Girl.”

“We were talking about the show,” Smith says, “and I said, ‘Hey, dude, I’ll be happy to go on any time you want me to come on.’ He said, ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’ A week later, he’s going, ‘OK, how about the second episode?’

“When you meet me, I’m a guy who works at a convenience store that was the last stop for the driver before he went off the cliff. I’m capitalizing on the disaster. It’s not that I’m a mean guy, but I’m kind of a capitalist.”

After filming, Smith found time to actually watch season one of “Veronica Mars.” Calling in after seeing six episodes, he says, “It’s awesome.

“It’s proof that TV can be way better than movies. It’s phenomenal. Kristen’s a great actress, cast is really tight, great writing, crisp plotting. I think it’s the best show on TV right now.”

• In celebration of their 14th anniversary, the IMDb is recalling the movie history of the past 14 years. Kevin scores mentions in both 1994 and 1997.
• Other IMDB news: Their gossip area is fishing for a story again. We’re running it for posterity, but can tell you, with all he’s got on the slate now, Affleck’s not leaving Hollywood anytime soon:

• Here’s a site we’re linking up with the first time here at News Askew – Relgious-themed site “Beliefnet” runs an article citing “My Name Is Earl” and the concept of karma on the program:

• Don’t forget, Kevin’s March 2004 appearance on “MAD TV” reruns on Comedy Central this Tuesday (October 18) at 6:00pm and Wednesday (October 19) at 1:00pm.

• It seems that no stone will go unturned as far as the Clerks 2 production, given this diary post from Kevin. By the sound of it, you can expect to see a LOT of the film in words and pictures on this site and other sites as the months go by. Here’s Kevin:

We appreciate the graciousness of the information exchange, yet also realize that some of you like going into Kevin’s films without knowing a ton about the plot. We’ll do our best to let you know when potential big plot spoilers are coming through this process, so feel free to read here and remain spoiler-free (if you choose to). However, smaller stuff, such as the location, guest appearances, and such WILL be discussed. We’ll do our best to not cross that line from informative to spoilage.

• Kevin’s “My Boring-Ass Life” blog kicked into high gear today, with over two weeks of updates, including the first week of filming on Clerks 2. While Kevin’s self-effacing title may work in some rare instances, it’s certainly not the case now. We’re learning a ton about the film and its process with these updates. Clerks 2 has taken center stage in Kevin’s life, and naturally, the blog’s going to reflect that for the next couple of months.

As always, we’re sure that you’re going to read it all, and to do so, suggest you start with the September 28th entry and move forward. Missing days will be filled in later, and we’ll let you know when that happens. Most of them seem to be complete now.

In case you’re in a hurry and just want our usual “Cliffs Notes” version of the latest batch, look no further than just below:

• Kevin hopes that the “Train Wreck” site and project will run for an entire year (full story below) and will culminate in a large documentary for the eventual Clerks 2 DVD.
• More comments and thoughts on the Aint It Cool talkback tirades.
• Wardrobe tidbits on Randal and Jay, which seem to indicate a short timeframe for the film. We’re now guessing that Clerks 2 will be another “day in the life” flick similar to the original. We’re betting a less than 24 hour period will be covered (more than likely, a single shift).
• Kevin says he’ll be getting to Ranger Danger “in the next two years”.
• Wanda Sykes and the comedian Earthquake have both filmed cameos for the flick.
• Kevin’s already started cutting the film together roughly. Scenes referred to so far: The ATM Scene, The Office Scene, The Back exterior scene, and a conversation between Rosario and Brian that’s got 10 set-ups, a huge contrast from the single angle often used in Clerks.

If you’re just a diary skimmer, we highly recommend the insightful October 9th entry. While Kevin takes a lot of time to give us all the details of his day, it’s these reflective moments that we always enjoy the most. We think you will, too. And as always, we thank Kevin for putting fingers to keyboard to share with the world.