• We’re making an exception today with our policy of not reporting personal type news, because, well, this is a very joyous day for Kevin, Jen, & their families. Congratulations to Kevin & Jen on the birth of little Harley Quinn Smith!

News Askew would like to send our best wishes and sincerest congratulations out to the lucky couple. We know they’re gonna make some great parents. Happy Birthday, Harley!

• It’s been a while since the Stash has announced any new swag for sale, so you’ve got TONS of cash saved up, right? RIGHT???? Well read on! First off, it’s the highly-anticipated Lost Scene from Clerks that so many of you have been talking about. The book’s coming out this August 20th, though VA’s page claims it’ll ship in JULY, so who knows? Here’s your chance to reserve your copy now, and be among the FIRST to witness the famous scene!

Many scenes had to be cut from Clerks for the sake of time, and for the first time ever, you can see one here – in glorious comic book black and white. Kevin Smith, the writer and director of the film, has returned to his original script and rescued the crucial funeral parlor sequence. Finally, this is your chance to see the events as Julie Dwyer’s funeral that send Dante and Randal running! This is the scene “the man” didn’t wan’t you to see! Featuring and all-new introductory sequence, this book is written by Kevin Smith and illustrated by Phil Hester and Ande Parks, with a cover by Jay and Silent Bob artist Duncan Fegredo.

Preorder now!

SHIPS IN JULY: $10.00 SHIPPING INCLUDED

Also, we’ve got a very nifty Bluntman & Chronic T-Shirt — Definitely a must-have for any fan:

You just read about their latest adventure in Oni Double Feature #12, now show all your friends that you support the dynamic stoners who saved the peaceful citizens of Red Bank from the evil and prolific Rick Derris. $18.00 L and XL $19.50 XXL and XXXL

• We’ve got a great update for you today, since it features the FIRST Dogma footage to appear online! We’re very plesaed to bring it to you. Details are below. The Clerks DVD is indeed out, and has even been spotted in a few stores (though official release isn’t until this Tuesday). We’ll have our discs and a review very soon. Renovations continue over at Dogma Rumor Control, with new font sizes for easier reading and an improvement project to make our articles and reviews more readable. It’s not quite finished yet, but we’ll let you know so you can go take a look. Anyway, other than the clips (as if you NEED anything else) we’ve also got a few newsbites to round out the day. Enjoy!

• News Askew is proud to present the first footage of Dogma on the net, in its finished, uncut form! These 3 clips comprise 2 scenes in the film, including one of our faves with Loki & Bartelby. These suckers won’t spoil the film for you, but if you want to go in totally cold, don’t watch.

These clips are also airing on The Sundance Channel along with some good Cannes interview pieces with Kevin, Alan, and Affleck. The entire blurb runs about 5 minutes.

You’ll want to download the latest copy of RealPlayer G2 to watch these clips. It’s free and a must for any computer thatsurfs the web, really. Plus, ALL clips will be displayed here using this technology, due to space limitations. The videoshould start a few seconds after you click the link. ENJOY!!!

• Joey’s press onslaught continues. TV Guide Online has a short but sweet interview with two soundbites for the new flick.
• George Carlin has an article in the August issue of that most respectable of publications…Penthouse. The article is rather good, but mostly covers his life up to this point in time. It only has one line on Dogma which comes at the end of a paragraph and simply states that the movie is in the future. It’s a good article for anyone who doesn’t know a lot about the guy, though. We may post a transcript if someone sends it out way.
• Those of you who missed the Clerks DVD at buy.com: 800.com is offering an $8 off coupon AND free shipping right now, which ain’t a bad deal just to get one DVD and run.
• Yesterday, New Jersey Online spotlighted Kevin Smith. The feature should be archived somewhere over at their site.

• Just a quickie today, I’m heading out…We made a mistake. Joey Adams will be on Letterman TONIGHT, not Monday as we earlier reported. Sorry for the mixup, and thanks to Rick Welch and J Fields for pointing it out. Catch ya later!

• Again, things seem to be calming down a bit…A welcome calm at that. All the same, there’s enough update and info to satisfy for at least another day or so! Our trend in placing more of the minor Dogma articles only on Rumor Controlcontinues today — We’ve added an IndieWire article as well as the Asbury Park Press piece today. Rumor Control will SOON become the only place for Dogma information, as it’s currently undergoing some maintenance in preparation. For starters, we’ve enlarged ALL the fonts to make it easier to read. You spoke. We listened. Also, we’ll soon have an indication of which stories ARE indeed RC exclusives (that didn’t appear on this front page as well) so you know what to read.

And now, your update.

• Will Lions Gate distribute Dogma? It’s sure looking that way. A source (who we assume wants to remain anonymous) tells us that some of the folks closer to the project have had the studio on their lips for the past couple of weeks now. Apparently, nothing’s been officially SIGNED yet, but the deal is VERY close to completion. We’re betting the farm on this one: Expect an official announcement on the Lions Gate acquisition and impending distribution soon. As for what Kevin’s been saying lately, too, a fall release for the film is still in the cards! Won’t be long now…

• In lieu of “Tail Lights Fade” getting a distributor, Malcolm Ingram said a few words to a post about the elusive “Drawing Flies” today. Here he reveals a release date for Fade, and more. Read on:

Sounds cool! So those of you who haven’t had the pleasure will finally have a chance to at least catch the flick! Or, does he mean they’ll actually be SELLING copies at the Stash? Who knows! And no, we DON’T have a copy, so please don’t ask, not that we wouldn’t MIND one…hint hint…Hello, Malcolm? 😉

• “Mallrats” cutie (and star of the upcoming “Mystery Men”) Claire Forlani will be the covergirl in this September’s POV magazine. You can send Claire’s phone number to scoops@newsaskew.com. Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?
• Buy.com has raised the price of the Clerks DVD to $22.99. Hope you got those orders in early! By the way, thanks to reel.com, our copies are in the mail and should arrive before the weekend. We’ll have a full review of the disc online as soon as we get a chance to carefully sift through it all. We expect at LEAST equal quality to the Clerks laser. Stay tuned.
• Joey Lauren Adams is scheduled to appear on this Monday’s Late Show w/ Dave Letterman show on CBS, promoting “Big Daddy”. We think she brought pics of her family to her last appearance, no telling what’s in store for this one. And speaking of Joey, she ALSO appeared on Comedy Central‘s “Canned Ham” last night. There were quick talks with cast members & Sandler family members. One of Joey’s clips had her saying that Adam Sandler had promised her a “more deeper role than in Chasing Amy“, or something to that effect. Towards the end, a few cast members got to improvise some blues lyrics for the film, including Joey. Oh, and she ALSO just appeared on MTV’s Total Request Live.