• Now here’s a couple new items that a lot of you will want to purchase. They won’t break the bank, either. The first one is a simulated “movie prop” from Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. It’s a Wizard Issue #120, except with a variant cover that was designed for the film (the one that Jay & Bob hold up, and that you’ve seen pictured here at News Askew and Scooping The Monkey).

The ordering information above is for distributors, just stop in your local comic shop or contact the Stash and ask how you can get one. This is one collector’s item that you surely won’t want to miss!

And, if that wasn’t cool enough, you can now preorder your very own J&SBSB screenplay! Here’s the details:

$10.95 gets you that one, another must-have item for any fan.

If you haven’t been to the Stash online site lately, check it out. There’s going to be a ton of new swag added and there’s probably some stuff you’ve missed that you want. If anything, you can get your Christmas list started early.

• CD Now’s website now offers audio samples of EVERY track on the soundtrack, including all the dialogue clips! Each sample is around 30 seconds (except for the ones that are too short, so you get the whole thing) and are in both Real Audio and mp3(mpeg) format. Check out the clips HERE and buy your own copy of the soundtrack, in stores on Tuesday the 7th! Don’t forget, each soundtrack comes with a coupon to save yourself 5 bucks on the admission to the flick too, so ya can’t miss!

By the way, those of you in the UK will be happy to know that you can order a copy from Europe’s Play247.com for only £9.99 with FREE shipping! Check out that deal HERE.

• There’s six pages of an interview with Kevin and a bit with Jay in Sam Goody’s free promotional Request magazine. The duo also appears on the cover. We’re working on getting some scans for you of the photos. The interview/article may show up at www.requestmagazine.com soon.
• Looks like Mallrats is airing earlier than expected on FX (and perhaps all month long!). It ran at noon today, and will likely run more this month. Check your local listings for dates and times, we’ll try and dig some up for ya too.
• Don’t forget, they’re still giving away free tickets to J&SBSB left and right at TheForce.Net! Surf over for your chance to win. Thanks also to JediNet for their links to us on their References page.
• Afroman is scheduled to be interviewed TODAY between 11 AM and 3 PM on WBCN 104.1 Boston. WBCN has begun to put “Because I Got High” into major rotation. Kevin’s name and the movie will likely come up.
• The creator/writer/publisher of Battle Pope Mayhem comics, Robert Kirkman, contacted us regarding the scan we posted yesterday. Apparently he’s a huge Kevin Smith fan and tries to toss in references all over the place. Apparently, in the back of issue 2, a character buys cigarettes from Dante and Randal. He also hears that there is a scene that was filmed in Jay and Silent Bob Strike back where someone is holding a copy of Battle Pope. He’s not sure if it’s in the final cut, but it WAS filmed. Cool stuff. Everything comes full circle!
• A few minor mentions in Stuff Magazine: On page 46, they list some of their favorite movie lines and have Jason Mewes quoted from Dogma, “I feel like I’m Han solo, you’re Chewie, she’s Ben Kenobi, and we’re in that fucked up bar!”
• Attention UK residents: Chasing Amy will be aired on Channel 4, Wednesday the 15th at 23:55. It’s being shown in widescreen. They’ve got quite a big write up on their web-site as well:

• There’s a new poll up at Premiere.com. “Kevin Smith – Stud or Dud?” At presstime, he seems to be quite the stud (100%).
• Chris Rock’s Australian promotional tour for “Down To Earth” continues. This Wenesday (the 8th of August) the Comedy Channel (http://www.thecomedychannel.com.au) will air a special on him at 9 PM. Some Jay and Silent Bob footage was shown in the promo, so there will likely be a mention of the new film.
• Finally today, sounds like Quick Stop might have gained themselves a new hire. This story comes to us from The Scoop News:

• The whole fiasco that’s arisen from the GLAAD protests again Kevin and the movie is starting to escalate, exactly what we’d hoped wouldn’t happen, but of course knew would. Today’s edition of the nationally syndicated Opie & Anthony radio program brought up the issue, where they read the letter that Kevin was sent and defended him quite well. They also took some calls from listeners, gay and otherwise, some who were in favor of Kevin, others GLADD. We’ve got a copy of the entire discussion for you HERE (20+ minutes) in MP3 format. Enjoy.

Futhermore, E! Online picked up the story today and basically ran a summary of the exchange between Kevin and GLAAD. It’s a fairly benign and accurate report on what went on between them, but nothing new for those who have been following. So far, it looks like nothing’s been blown out of proportion or “spun” oddly. Here’s a clip:

Check out the full story HERE Yahoo News has picked up the same piece as well.

Also, it looks as if GLAAD have posted a point for point response to Kevin on their website, which you can read HERE. This doesn’t really look too good for the organization, as it’s pretty obvious that they’re not willing to let this one go and that they’re looking for more press.

Finally, here’s a scan of that Entertainment Weekly piece that’s going to appear in tomorrow’s issue (Kevin mentioned this in an earlier post). The blurb really makes it sound as if GLAAD brought the issue up just for donations, whether that’s the case or not, it’s as if they’re saying they’re offended, but pass them a donation and they’ll feel better. It’s okay to have an opinion and be offended by the flick, but to turn it into a fund-raising drive just doesn’t make their objections seem that sincere. Just an opinion. Feel free to chat about all this stuff in the Talkbacks.

• Today’s Hollywood Reporter ran a small blurb on new film MPAA ratings. Jay & Bob is rated R for “nonstop crude and sexual humor, pervasive strong language, and drug content”. Sounds about right to us!
• There’s a new View Askew “sound board” (suite of sounds used as samples, etc.) located HERE. Check it out if you’re intrigued, even moreso if you know what a soundboard is.

• Finally today, here’s a scan of that Battle Pope panel we mentioned in the update earlier today. See ya sooner than ya think!

• Congratulations and best wishes to Kevin on his 31st birthday today. We’re sure we speak for everyone when we say we hope you have a great day, and can take a break from everything that’s going on, relax, and celebrate with your family and friends. Have a happy one.

• Here’s Kevin with a rundown of some of the press he’s got set up for next month. Look for this list to get even longer! We’ve added all of it to the countdowns, so you can keep an eye on this stuff and catch it. The FX night sounds like one not to miss, and seeing the ABC mallrats edit is a real treat, as the changes they made are just laughable at times. Here’s the birthday guy himself with the run-down:

The list’s only going to get longer, folks. Excuse us while we go and break government regulations now and try to figure out a good way to clone ourselves to keep up! Stay tuned for more announcements on press from the rest of the cast, as well. We’ll keep you posted on it all.

• The promotional fun continues, with a few domains suddenly appearing full of hate material similar to what appeared at Moviepoopshoot.com. These new sites take a more realistic stance, though, not attacking the fictional Bluntman & Chronic movie, but rather, Kevin and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back themselves. You can check out the following three domains (all the material is the same at each, though): www.jayandsilentbobstrikeback.com, www.bluntmanandchronic.com and www.jayandsilentbob.com. Fun stuff! Check them out today.

• The positive reviews just continue to show up all over the place, including this highly positive, 4 STAR review that just came in. Check it out, watch out for a few minor spoilers inside (skip ahead if you are staying away from everything about the plot), and read the text afterwards to learn how you can win a cool prize:

Be sure to hit the Forums to post any reviews of the film that you come across. We’ve got 13 of them up so far, and we’re sure there’s a LOT more out there. Fill up that board, folks. In fact, we’ve got a pair of ORIGINAL, direct from the studio copies of the UNCENSORED Afroman “Beacuse I Got High” video and the Stoke 9 “Kick Some Ass” video. These things are rare, original, and come to you courtesy of Universal Music and News Askew. The contest runs from now until September 5, 2001. The person that posts the most legitimate reviews on the film (no, making up 15 reviews of your own doesn’t count) will get the tapes. Surf over to the forums, check out what’s there, and start scouring the net for more. Be sure and read the top post, which gives you the format to post your review topics in. Good luck, everyone!

• The GLAAD controversy continues, with many folks coming to the web board, forums, talkbacks, and sending letters of suppoort for Kevin into the organization. Matt Drudge even has a link on his Drudge Report website to Kevin’s original posting about the whole situation. Other websites are even joining the cause. Here’s an e-mail that was in the box this morning:

You can read everything that’s been going on over the past few days in our News Askew archives if you’re just joining us. Remember, if you send a letter supporting Kevin into GLAAD, keep it civil, intelligent, and coherent. There’s really no need to copy us on the letters, as many have been doing, things are so busy we really won’t even have time to look at them. Let’s hope this all settles down real soon. Some will argue that this is more free press for the film, but it’s obvious that Kevin would rather it never happened at all. It’s no fun getting press that way.