• Here we are, back on the east coast! It was great seeing Hollywood and the set of the flick, but it’s always a nice relief to get home and back to normal life. We had an excellent trip, though, thanks to Kevin, Gail, Scott, Jen, and the rest of the team working in the offices and on the flick. We were spoiled with rides to and from the set, full access to the filming and everything around it, and, of course, that wonderful craft services area. We’re prepping the ON LOCATION story where we’re going to present some exclusive pictures and information that you won’t catch anywhere else, so stay tuned for that. Until then, let’s take a look at what else has been going on in the world while we’ve been gone. This update was written before we got Wednesday OR Thursday’s mail, as it was done in transit on the airplane home. We’ll catch up on the Green Arrow release news and lots more in the next update:

• Here’s some more details from the latest AICN set report from J&SBSB. Again, these things are spoiler free, but here’s afew clips that might be of interest:

As always, Mysterio’s latest report can be viewed at its home at Aint It Cool News or over at our own Scooping The Monkey website.

• TheForce.net has reposted the announcement from Kevin regarding Mark Hamill’s role in J&SBSB.
• The Onion has placed their review of the Clerks cartoon DVD set online HERE.

• Well, either there hasn’t been much news or you’re all giving us a break as we try and keep up with stuff from the west coast, here. This will be the last update written from out here, as we head back home after lunch today. We’re off to the set for one last day of shooting with Jason Lee on board as Banky today.

Yesterday saw a lot of stunt work as some action sequences were filmed. We assume we’ll also see some more of that happening first thing this morning, as well. We also were lucky enough to screen about 30 minutes or so of edited-together footage of the film. You’re going to love this one, folks…There’s no question that the fans were kept in mind with every aspect of this film.

Again, these small reports are just teasers for our large on set report that’s coming up after we return home. We’ll have some exclusive photos and lots more for you when that happens. For now, it’s off to the set. We’ll see ya back here soon. Thanks for stopping by and bearing with us during the slow updates this week.

• Hey folks, just a few quick bits of info for ya, as we’re on the way out of the hotel again for the day. First of all, the new column from Mysterio (whom we met on the set last night) is up. We’ll chat about it more later, with a better story, but for now, if you’d like to read it, you can check it out HERE.

One other thing – We don’t have a cable that can transfer the digital shots from the camera to the laptop out here, but we WILL post some pics for you upon our return to the east cost as soon as we can. As for spoilers and more set details, that stuff will all show up in our On Location report. These site updates on the front page are just meant as teasers while we get the bigger story ready. Sorry to disappoint, but it’s coming soon.

Alright, out into the rain we go. Catch ya later!

• No sooner do we post our own update that Kev comes online with one of his own! Here’s the latest from the set according to the man himself, including stuff from last week and what we saw today:

• Well, we’re back after a fun day on the set of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back! We shot about 50 photos today, of actors, and the Bluntcave itself, and plan to shoot some more before the trip is over. The only catch with the photos is that we’re going to need to keep some under wraps until closer to release of the film. We’ll be going through that with Kevin and crew and bringing you some exclusive photos for sure, soon after we get back, so never fear. As release gets closer, we’ll reveal more of the spoiler-type stuff that just should be leaking out this soon. Trust us, when you find out more about Mark Hamill’s role, you’re gonna love it. Today on set were Hamill, Will Ferrel, Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, Jen Smith, and of course, Kev & Jay.

Of course a lot more detail, info, and pics are coming in our big On Location report after we get back to the east coast. Until then, here’s some other stuff, just a few newsbites, from today’s mailbox:

• We’re not sure if this is an error or not, but Cinescape.com is reporting (from Hollywood Reporter, apparently) that Marc Blucas (who played Riley on Buffy) has a small part in J&SBSB. We’ll try and verify this one. We did hear today that there were still a couple deals in the works and some cameo casting that could still happen, so this is certainly possible.
• Over at Mighty Big TV, in the Feb 23 recap of The Practice, ragdoll (the recapper) slams on the storyline by making Jay and Silent Bob jokes throughout. The recaps are funny as hell regardless, but this just makes it better.
• On age 82 of the March 2001 Maxim, Chasing Amy is mentioned in the “Lights, Camera, Action” article. It kinda looks down on the flick as it recommends guys NOT take a date to it, but hey, we know they’re just joshin’. Still, we figured it was worth a mention here.
• The 2-25-01 strip of online comic “RPG World” has Jay and Silent Bob in the background. It can be found HERE. They’re kind of hard to see in the strip, but there a link that shows just the background, unblurred, as well.
• Clerks” is mentioned in Roger Ebert’s “Movie Answer Man” column this past Sunday, in a question about the oddity of “Hannibal” receiving an R rating while “Clerks” almost received an NC-17. The question, and Ebert’s answer, can be viewed online HERE.
• Ben Affleck will be on Jay Leno this Wednesday, February 28th. We’re not sure if this is a rerun or a new show, though.

• Just arrived here on the west coast…Thought maybe a couple of you might be interested. It’s raining out here and pretty miserable, but we’ll be heading out to the set of the flick tomorrow and hopefully checking in with our first report later in the day. We’ve got e-mail access working though at the moment there’s not much to update about. We’ll do our best to keep you up-to-date for the next few days though, and keep you posted on some big exclusive scoops out here. Catch ya later!

• Hey folks, what’s up? Hope you’re enjoying the new forums, it seems that things are going wild with well over 200 members and 400 posts in less than a day. Not too shabby. We’ll be working out the bugs as time goes on (those posting errors and stuff have been noted and aren’t your fault). Time will tell if the forums are needed and helpful, and we’ll tweak them as we go. With web boards at View Askew AND the Talkbacks here, if they become repetitive or just underused, we’ll modify them to suit things better. They are by no means a replacement for what’s already running at View Askew or the Talkbacks here, but just another spot to go and chat or dig up the latest information. Plus, unlike the talkbacks, they don’t bury themselves in a couple of days. Anyway, hope you continue to find them useful.

We’re off to Los Angeles very early on Sunday morning, but, barring any technical difficulties, we’ll be checking in with regular updates from the west coast for the first part of the week…It’s back to the snow and the cold on Thursday. We’ll likely have a HUGE On Location report from the trip for you soon after we return. Until then, we’ll try and catch up with you as much as we can with today’s update. Here we go: