• The amazing “Me And My Shadow” story concludes with Part 9 today, now available at Silent Bob Speaks and the Myspace blog. This ends the take that has brought more detail and understanding to the Smith/Mewes relationship than any of us ever knew. A small passage from this touching conclusion:

To tie-in with the final installment, Kevin’s also posted a private, personal video from Mewes that convinced him he was finally on the road to recovery (referenced in the text above). Due to the size of this video, our site and the other family sites are all running a bit slow — So please bear with us on that one.

If you missed the series, or any installments, we highly recommend you take the time to check out every word. It’s been a brave, honest, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, touching tale of the relationship that truly makes up the core of what so many of you love about the View Askew flicks. And worlds better than any of those “True Hollywood Stories” you’ll see on TV. We thank Kevin for taking the time to put such detail and thought into Jay’s story, and congratulate Jay on his continued success.

“Piss Ice”

• What happens when Jason Mewes steps in to guest-direct a scene in Clerks 2? You’re about to find out, dear readers. Watch as our own Mewes dictates his bidding to a crowd inside the Mooby’s shop — Part of Zak & Joey’s brilliant ongoing “Train Wreck” online documentary series, available exclusively at Clerks2.com. Yes, you’ll even get to see the ACTUAL SCENE ITSELF! Who gives you more free online entertainment than us every day, eh? Stop over and check out the latest fun-filled installment.

• Via the Myspace blog, here’s a very nice photo of the new Clerks trade paperback, titled “Tales From The Clerks”, due in stores this August. The book collects all the View Askew comics in one tidy volume, along with a BRAND NEW story titled “Where’s The Beef?!?” which fills in the gaps between the Quick Stop & Mooby’s for Dante & Randal. Expect the book out in early August to tie into the Clerks 2 theatrical release.
• The quippy webmaster over at “I Watch Stuff” has some NICE stuff to say about the Clerks 2 trailer.
• Pop culture news site Zap2It reports that the extras on the “My Name Is Earl” Season one DVD box set will certainly be NOT family-friendly, due to behind-the-scenes antics and that “Earl meets Family Guy” episode we reported on previously. From Ethan Suplee:

• Talk about a cool pastor! A reader sent us a sermon where his Episcopal priest made a reference to Rufus, the 13th apostle. Nice!
• The Easter Bunny sequence in Mallrats gets a small mention on this blog website.
• And finally today, here we thought that an Easter had come and gone WITHOUT any mall-rated Easter Bunny altercations. We were wrong! We bring you news from Naples, Florida of yet another fight that took place with a mall bunny just this year. Heck, even The Smoking Gun picked it up. This year, the bunny fought BACK!

• YouTube’s got the official Clerks II theatrical trailer now available online! Remember, folks, this one’s got a couple spoilers from the film, definitely more than you’ve seen in previous trailers, with about 80% new footage and dialogue. You can peep it right HERE.

There’s also a brand new clip created exclusively for YouTube, hosted by Kevin Smith himself, now available. In this clip, you’ll see an exclusive edition of the “Train Wreck” series (and those of you who ALWAYS ask Kevin to do that Showgirls move at the live shows, PREPARE YOURSELVES…) — This one revolves around “Scene 56”, a scene filmed at night that contains spoilers to great to discuss here (never fear, as Train Wreck bleeps the spoiler stuff, as well). Enjoy!

Your comments on the trailer, especially as compared to the online version, are most welcome and appreciated. Talk Back!

• Clerks 2 gets major theatrical screentime today, as it’s tied to the start of Scary Movie 4 which moves into 3,600+ theaters today. Go see Scary Movie 4, and you’ll see our trailer. Early reaction has fans and audiences loving the trailer, and shocked at what it gets away with tied to a PG-13 movie. No online copy is available just yet, so you’ll hafta buy a ticket to see it today OR watch Access Hollywood tonight. Kevin says:

ACCESS HOLLYWOOD airs
At 7:30 PM on WNBC, Ch 4 in NY, repeating at 4:00 AM
At 7:30 PM on WNBC, Ch 4 in LA

Check your local listings for station and time. We’ll get a capture up as soon as possible.

As someone lucky enough to have seen the film, I can say that Kevin’s online trailer presents a spoiler-free look at the film’s events, while the theatrical definitely does contain some major spoilerage (including a plot point from the film’s opening moments that’s been carefully kept under wraps until now). So, if you want to go in cold, you might want to TRY and skip the trailer, though if you’re like us, curiosity will get the best of you.

If you see the trailer, we’d love to hear what you and your audience thought. Talk back and let us know!

• On April 12, Kevin was honored by UCLA with the 24th Jack Benny Award For Comedy. The Westwood, California event was a private one, but we’re once again happy to present photographer Albert Ortega’s high resolution shots from the event. The award celebrates Kevin’s “Outstanding Contribution to Comedy”. News Askew would again like to congratulate Kevin on this distinct honor.

• The tale we originally thought might take two, possibly three postings to tell has now spanned into its eighth amazing volume, and will continue on into at least a part nine, possibly more. Kevin’s touching recount of his life and times with Jason Mewes continues, with part eight of “Me And My Shadow”. A sampling from this segment:

Don’t miss this compelling tale, continuing online, free for your perusal, at Kevin’s Myspace and Boring Ass-Life blog sites.

• Fangoria Magazine has a nice article on “Dead And Gone”, the new horror flick starring Clerks’ Marilyn Ghigliotti. Here’s a snippet:

“When I read the script for the first time,” says Sasson of his directorial debut, “everything flowed like greased lightning. It’s a mix of THE SHINING, TWIN PEAKS and a lot of EVIL DEAD and DEAD ALIVE. I loved it immediately. Unlike with a lot of other independent horror scripts, it’s virtually impossible to get ahead of the storyline. Without sounding too philosophical, the movie is about reality and how we perceive it. On screen it is the story of Jack Wade [Jones], a Hollywood trophy husband who is forced to take his comatose, ex-Hollywood-studio-executive wife Frankie [Bates] to a small cabin in the Nevada mountains. The solitude begins to take its toll, and he starts to question reality, and his sanity. Is his mind playing tricks on him? Is his wife faking the coma? Or is the whole place simply haunted?”

There’s a ton of new pics and the full story waiting for you at the Fangoria website!

• In the upcoming (April 26th) Dark Horse comic, “Star Wars: Tag & Bink — Revenge of the Clone Menace”, you’ll find a cameo of two very familiar looking Jedi! Check out the two pages where these guys appear.
• Mark your calendars! According to the latest issue of Stereo Sound Agency’s newsletter, Jason Lee is scheduled for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 10th. We’ll remind you when it gets closer.
• Stan Lee will be starring in and hosting a new reality show for the Sci Fi Network called ‘Who wants to be a Superhero’. The show will feature 11 contestants, dressing as custom super heroes, competing in challenges that test their bravery, honor, self sacrifice and others. Each episode, Lee will say goodbye to some contestants (ala Donald Trump). The winner will recieve a comic book based on their charecter, and a possible TV movie. The show will begin filming in May. Details HERE.

• In the Newsweek dated April 17th, with Katie Couric on the cover, there’s a mention about Kevin’s “Me and My Shadow” series. Page 18 in “The Technologist” section, at the bottom in their Blog Watch:

The series continues this week at the MySpace and Speaks blog sites. Honest, moving storytelling at its best. Don’t miss it.