• Well folks, we know April 1st wouldn’t have been the same with something special, so we hope you enjoyed yesterday’s edition of News Askew. As about 60-70 % of you figured out, yes, that site was indeed a hoax, as were the redesign rumors. We’ll be sticking with this look for a while, and yes, we know better than to go Homer Simpson-style animated GIF crazy.

Did ya miss it? Wanna see what it looked like? Click HERE for the April 1, 2003 News Askew. A lot of folks are also requesting the classic PTA Central page we did as a joke a few years back. Well here ya go, folks. Click HERE and enjoy.

Some of you actually seemed to like the “new look”:

• “This site is really cute, guys! I love the kitties and the dancing hampsters are really cute! Keep up the good work! This is so much more appropriate for all ages!” -Kailin
• “I love the new site, especaly the monkey pointing at the head lines. Don’t change a thing.” – Jonathan
• “I like it but it makes me sad, cause youre gonna change it back to the old shitty version again tomorrow arent you? Do the right thing. Leave the monkeys.” -Nicholas
• “HAHAHAAHAHAHA! I especially love furby, it gives a classy edge to the site. Avant garde. Now, you just need to change the site’s name to newsy askews!” – Liz

Some hated it. A lot.

• “Oh, lord the pain. When does the hurting stop?” – FatMatt
• “By the way… I NEVER want to see Kevin and Company sink this low EVER again! If Earth isn’t Hell, then this new re-desing surely is!” – Dan P

And others, well, just, uh…

• “Hmmm… I’m not loving the look of the new site. Looks like someone’s personal website they’ve made with Frontpage Express. It just doesn’t feel View Askewish. Maybe the addition of some of the cartoon Clerks characters like the old site would assist in that.” – Chelle
• “sweeeet sassy molassyy this is almost as good as two naked midgets having sex with the hippos in the house game.love it so me love yous loooooong time” – Todd

Check out all the Guestbook entries from the April Fool’s edition HERE. We’ll be back with more news later!

• This week’s edition of “Renaissance Man” over at Movie Poop Shoot spotlights Kevin’s recent Q&A appearance at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. It’s quite an extensive report with a ton of great new photos, including a nice summary of some of the interesting things said. Here’s one of those points (an elaboration from an earlier report):

Man, we gotta see those animation tests! Anyway, read the whole thing and see all the pics HERE! Interestingly enough, it seems that Kevin is making an effort to not tell stories that you can see on the “Evening With Kevin Smith” DVD. So, if you’ve seen those live, consider yourselves fortunate! Can’t help but wonder if that Prince story will one day be Kevin’s “Freebird”…

• Thanks to everyone who sent in the Jason Lee “People” magazine article. Here’s the stuff in it that pertains directly to Kevin and View Askew:

You can, of course, also read the entire article in the scans above. Click ‘em!

• Chalk up yet ANOTHER positive review for the hilarious “Evening With Kevin Smith” DVD. Cinescape digs it http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Video+%26+DVD&action=page&obj_id=38155 ! Check out their review and, for goodness’ sake, buy this disc if you don’t have it on your shelf already!
• We’re receiving some nice reports from Brian O’Halloran’s recent visit to Cedar Crest College in Allentown. Some theorized that Brian was happy to be at an all girl school (sheesh, if we knew that we’d have gone in!), but all agreed that he was a great guy, very generous with his time answering any and all questions brought forth. Brian will be at the Indie Film Festival in New York City later this week!
• HMV Australia hmv.com.au reports that Region 4 SE DVDs of Clerks and Chasing Amy will be available separately beginning May 5th.
• A cartoon on the preview page of the Mad Magazine website http://www2.warnerbros.com/madmagazine/files/onthestands/ots_429/sbevery.html called “SpongeBob is Everywhere” features a reference to everyone’s favourite hetero-lifemate.
• Buddy Christ pops up again, this time in the new Sum 41 video for “Hell Town”. The entire video is done with action figures, and our buddy appears toward the end of the video for a quick cameo.
• The Anti-Webster, “Urban Dictionary” website features some familiar terms that you might be interested in seeing the user-entered definitions for: “Kevin Smith” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?form=1&term=Kevin+Smith , “Mallrats” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?form=1&term=Mallrats .”nubian” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?form=1&term=nubian , and http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Snoochie+Boochies “Snoochie Boochies”.

• Hey folks, just wanted to let you know that I’ll be heading into New York City for next Friday’s “Drop Dead Roses” screening. Brian O’Halloran and other cast members from the film WILL be in attendance. The film screens on Friday, April 4th at the Village East Cinemas (181 2nd. Ave. at 12th St.), Screen 6 at 6:00 PM. If ya spot me, be sure to stop and say hi! Furthermore, I’ll be in the city all night long and into Saturday, so if any of you local folks have some suggestions on cool places to hang out and have a few drinks on a Friday night, let me know! Hope to see some of you there at the show.

Brian, by the way, appeared at Cedar Crest College in nearby Allentown, PA tonight. If anyone’s got a report from that, send it on!

• Friday’s Howard Stern show erroneously cited “Jersey Girl” as making reshoots now as part of their weekly “Gossip Game”. We’ve got the clip HERE in MP3 format. Just so you know, the film they are talking about is GIGLI, and NOT Jersey Girl, as Mike Walker mistakenly says.
• The Arcmax Entertainment Daily mailing ran this very cool blurb from an interview with Chris Rock, where he discusses his enjoyment of working with Kevin and his desire to do so again in the future:

• A two-page interview with Jason Lee appears in the latest issue of People Magazine. If anyone’s got a scan or the text, please send it on.
• Those way cool Clerks figures are starting to make their way into retail outlets as well…Some have been spotted at Suncoast Pictures, though at a higher price than at the Stash, we believe. Get these things, you won’t be sorry! They just look so damn cool.

• An article on Kevin’s recent Minnesota appearance from The Minnesota Daily is now available. Sounds like a few interesting bits of information were asked about answered. Here’s a snippet of the good stuff:

Read the whole shebang HERE. Thanks to DARK HORIZONS for the link!

• Well, Ming’s hooked us up with our sets of the Clerks inaction figures: Randal, Dante, Jay & Silent Bob, and it’s really great to see these things up close and personal. They’ve really captured the cartoony likenesses of these folks, and they sure do look damn cool hanging out around the PC here. Each of the 4 figures ranges in size and weight, Bob of course being the heaviest by far, and come in a nifty little filmstrip like package card. It’s always sad to rip a collectible like this open, but they just screamed to get out of the package. These items are definitely a must-have for any fan, so be sure and order yourself a set from the Stash today, while they last. Or heck, order two, keep a set in the packages! This being the first wave, we’re sure they’re gonna be very collectible once they sell out. The packages promise Wave 2, the Mallrats set, featuring 7 new figures, this summer. We’ll keep you posted on the progress with those. Preorders are shipping on these as we speak, so if you’ve yet to get your set, watch for them any day now. Enjoy.

• Prepare folks, prepare…We’ve been working tirelessly, day and night, non stop, on creating what we’re hoping is going to be the absolute most amazing website you’ve ever seen. Be prepared, as we’ve got a HUGE update to the look of this site coming in just a few short days. We’re so excited about it, we can’t wait to debut it, but we’ve just got a few final touches to work out before it’s JUST perfect. We promise that you’ll all absolutely LOVE it, and that it’s going to completely revolutionalize the way that web pages are done from this point forward. Stay tuned, the NEW NEWS ASKEW is on the way to your computer screen NEXT WEEK!

• Jason Lee is scheduled to appear on a new episode of “Last Call with Carson Daly” on NBC late night TONIGHT. Check your local listings for the air time. We imagine he may be there to promote “Dreamcatcher”.
• We’re getting a lot of mail on this so we figured we’d best mention it: In issue #702 of Entertainment Weekly, with the American Idol cover, on page 67, there’s a picture of rapper Jean Grae, and behind her, there’s a DJ with the Brodie’s Mallrats t-shirt on.
• The song “Berserker” (from Clerks) is referenced in Episode 5 of the animated “Berserk – War Cry”.
• Finally today…Don’t be fooled by the bombs that he got…He’s still Saddam from Iraq. Take care, all.

• A small promotional Jersey Girl site has been set up at Miramax, touting a winter 2003 release for the film. Don’t forget, we’ve got continuing coverage at Exit 37 and full archives in case you missed anything from the film, and expect the site to speed up drastically as release draws closer.
• Apparently Kevin Michael Richardson, who did the phony Morpehus voice in the Clerks cartoon did such a good job, he’s also doing a voice in the newly released Animatrix short, Final Flight of the Osiris, now in theaters with Dreamcatcher. We were unable to verify this but a scooper swears it’s so.
• UK’s Maxim magazine didn’t have such good things to say about Stealing Harvard, but cited Lee’s Mallrats performance as his best to date:

• During a quick interview with Salma Hayek on the Oscar pre-show, a bar at the bottom of the screen said she has also appeared in “Wild Wild West” and “DOGMA”! Nice little mention there.
• In a recent episode of MTV UKs series “Screenpaly”, Corey Taylor of the band “Slipknot” chose “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” as his favorite film, explaining why he loves it and Kevin’s work so much. Rapper Lil Bow Wow also cited the film as one of his favorites in the video store currently on the MTV US show “Moviehouse”.
• Finally today, we usually don’t run all this Fark stuff, but this one’s pretty funny — The latest contest had folks messing with a picture of Wolverine from X2. In this shot, a familiar face shows up in place of the dude with the knives. Catch ya next time!