After a very long absence from cyberspace (We don’t think he’d posted in close to a month!) Kevin stopped by the web board to start one of his famous posts that explains what’s been going on since we’ve last seen him. He began with some insight on the honorary doctorate and his experience at Illinois, but then was cut abruptly short (so we assume this will be continued soon). Until then, here it is so far…

• A new interview with View Askew favorite Jason Lee appears at the drdrew.com website this week. Give it a read.
• The recent video release “Art House” features a segment before the flick where the director enters a Hollywood Video store and asks the clerk what flicks are renting well. The clerk procaims that “Clerks” is the top renting indepdendent flick at his store.

That’s it, folks! Sorry again for the light day…We’ll back back with more news as it breaks! Take care.

Before we get flooded with e-mails, we know a few of the countdown days are off. There was a coding error that’s easy to fix, however Chris left for work and I don’t have the FTP password due to carelessly losing it, so they’ll probably be fixed sometime tonight. Sorry about the problem, but no need to e-mail in about it. Thanks.

Hey folks. We realize that things have been sorta quiet ’round these parts lately. There’s not been much to say and we’ve been kinda busy anyway. I took the time to do some landscaping on the house finally, owning a house takes up a lot of spare time, that’s for sure.

The Flyers didn’t do too well today. We’ll get ’em the next time. We were just chatting about other stuff on TV with all the renewals due by tomorrow. Friends will be back for another 2 years. Buffy & Angel will both be back. That’s good. But probably the big news is the trend with summer TV shows. Clerks is debuting on May 31st, along with Survivor, a new CBS reality show (we dunno if ABC and CBS are pitting the shows against one another). CBS also has that show with 10 people locked in a house and watched by cameras 24-7 until they all crack or get booted out. Sounds intriguing. Then there’s always the HBO shows which remain some of the best on TV ever.

On the film front, we tried “Battlefield Earth” for the hell of it last night. We KNEW the reviews were bad but just figured the critics were overreacting and that it would be bad, but still fun. Oh, how we were wrong. This flick makes “Waterworld” look like “Saving Private Ryan”. It’s that bad. No fun AT ALL. Stay away. With only about a 12 million dollar take this weekend, though, it should rank up there as one of the bigger cimematic bombs in history. Thank goodness.

On the Askew front, we’re just gonna stick with NewsBites again today. Hopefully we’re not letting you down by so many of these lately. Basically, when we’ve got stories but only a line or two to write about each, that’s when they become newsbites. If a bigger story breaks, it’ll get its own headline, but with the lack of big news going around, aside from some small references or articles here or there, we feel this is the best way to keep it easy.

Hopefully all of you are adjusting to the new site. We should have some small fixes and enhancements for you soon, it’s just that we wanted to take a break after working six months straight on the new design. Hope ya understand!

A new poll topic is finally here today, as well. Vote and be heard. Let’s see what else is going on today:

A new interview with Kevin appears on Aint It Cool News that’s so darned long we haven’t even read it all just yet. It’s just been posted, and looks to cover a TON of material. Surf over to AICN and give it a read, we’re sure there’s gotta be SOME new revelations there. We just wanted to let you folks know as soon as it was posted.

Of the immediate first bits of big news we see in the interview is that Kev’s currently writing an outline for the Clerks animated movie, which will be made if the show clicks with viewers when it starts at the end of this month. So there’s a reason to get all your friends & family to check it out right there! Also, he mentions the series will certainly hit DVD and tape. We’re sure there’s LOTS more going on in the interview, so be sure and read it from start to finish over at the site. Perhaps we’ll summarize some highlights tomorrow, or feel free to use the talkbacks section here if you’d like to chat about it (though we’re sure Harry’s TB section will also be buzzing)…

• A new interview, mostly regarding the entire Superman fiasco (It won’t die!!!) appears at the very cool Fandom.Com website. Those of you that have seen Kevin speak have likely heard a lot of this story, but this is by FAR the most in print over the entire incident. Check out the article HERE.
• Mallrats beauty Claire Forlani is the subject of three page spread of her wearing various fashions in the latest Glamour (Any Seinfeld Fans Out There? “Glamour?!?!?”) magazine. Run out and buy a copy or sneak a peek at your girlfriend’s copy, fellas.
• Dogma has been doing well on the rental and sales charts, as we mentioned earlier this week. Some new stats: It’s the number five renter in the USA (earing $5.2 million in 5 days), and the highest ranked newcomer on the chart. In Canada, the flick is the number two renter.
• The stock market drama-thriller “Boiler Room”, which features a couple cameo scenes from Ben Affleck, is slated to hit video shelves on July 18th.
• Couple of Askew website related plugs to throw out there today: The Unofficial Online Jason Lee Fanclub Site and a site called “The Bob” that’s a Kev fan site. They borrow a lot of News Askew news and stuff but always plug us well.

• Finally today, a couple pics from the latest Movieline of a few Askew couples – Jason & Carmen Lee, & Chris and Malaak Compton-Rock.

Hey folks, some very cool breaking news for ya today, so we’re checking in with a rare Saturday update.

Kevin tells us that he’ll be doing not one but TWO online chats later this month, to talk to the fans and promote the Clerks Cartoon Series, premiering May 31st on ABC. This is the first time we can remember that Kev’s actually done a live, online chat. So it’s a pretty big deal.

The first chat happens on May 30th at 8 PM EST on cnn.com. We’re not sure how long they’ve got scheduled, but chats usually last for an hour.

The second chat is on May 31st, the day of the show’s premiere, at TV Guide Online. This one starts at 8:30 PM and goes until 9:30 PM EST, right when the show premieres here on the east coast.

We’ll have more details (hopefully) on how to access the chats, what software you’ll need, and more, as these dates draw closer. Until then, clear those calendars, and get those typing fingers ready with your questions for Kev!

• FOLLOWUPS FROM YESTERDAY: Most would agree that the Spawn’s reference to “LeFors” was more a “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” homage than a Mallrats homage. We agree. Kevin’s character in Mallrats has been thought to have been a B&S reference as well, so if anything, the mention in Spawn was once removed from ‘Rats. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, by the way, hits DVD shelves this tuesday. Coincidence?
• Also, the Harvard website has a much better article on Ben & Matt’s rally apperance last week. You can read it HERE.
• DirecTV will begin airing Dogma on its Direct Ticket pay per view system on June 23rd. The flick’s just been mastered from the pan & scan version only (alas, no Dolby Digital letterboxed copy will be offered). It will premiere, as most new PPVs, as an all day ticket, which means you can order it once and watch it on all the channels that air it.
• We may have stopped updating the Dogma: Rumor Control site (we began working on the new page you’re viewing now right after the film’s release, and something had to give) but the official Dogma website is still going strong. They’ve just added a bunch of new behind the scenes pics from the flick, with commentary written once again by Kevin himself. Be sure and stop by the site to take a look.
• Humor website Delta Source has printed an amusing article that speculates on what it would have been like had Kevin Smith been asked to take over writing duties on the next Star Wars flick:

• Finally today, happy birthday to George Carlin, 63 years and still going strong.

• Dogma’s DVD release, even WITHOUT being a special edition, is doing quite well as far as sales go. Reel.com has the disc listed as its #1 seller for the week, and DVD Insider reports that Dogma was the second highest all around selling DVD for last week. Not bad at all! Wonder how well October’s SE will do?
• The net is buzzing with rumors on the upcoming “Preacher” film. Today, IGN Movies runs this piece on the project, and Dark Horizons mentions Kevin as an executive producer on the flick. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.
• Jason Lee gets a small blurb in this month’s issue of Stuff Magazine, asking him a few questions regarding things that he regards as “cool”:

• More View Askew references, this time in one of the industry’s best selling books — Spawn (Issue #95). On the 9th page of the comic book two of the characters are conversing and the convo goes like this, and might just be a reference to a slightly-differently spelled security guard from Mallrats…

The second reference is on page 21, where a cigarette is drawn hitting the ground and one of the guys says “I said, KNOCK IT OFF!”, which is a vague (but seemingly apparent) reference to Jay scolding Silent Bob when he’s attempting the Jedi Mind Trick on a cigarette towards the start of ‘Rats.

• It’s been confirmed: Jason Mewes IS scheduled to appear at DragonCon this year! Those of you that are going may want to bring your Jay action figures or your Jay & Silent Bob books for a chance at an autograph. The con starts on June 29 and runs until July 2.
• This salon.com article on eroticism in film compares and contrasts “Chasing Amy” and “Basic Instict.”
• The Mr. Showbiz site ran a report on Affleck & Damon’s appearance at a Harvard rally last weekend, in support of higher wages for the school’s custodial staff. You may have to check back in yesterday’s news for it, but it’s there.
• Finally today, don’t forget, Kevin’s 30 minute appearance on the Sundance Channel‘s “Conversations in World Cinema” premieres night at 9 pm EST! It’s a good (albeit short) show, and we realize that a lot of you may not get the channel, so find a friend and have ‘em tape it! Check back in our archives (or use our new search feature) for our review of the show.