This post doesn't directly relate to anything going on here at Dirty Sprocket, but just wanted to talk about one of my favorite shows, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Also the title of this post comes from an episode. In it some characters walk off the road and a voice, not any of the characters in the scene yells, 'Watch out for snakes.' Awesome to the core.

I was going to add this to my original post but I decided to make it look like I'm doing more. So I'll start with the lead graphic one of my favorite music videos, Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love. I've been kind of obsessed with it lately. I'm not entirely sure why, the video is simplistic consisting of Palmer singing with a group of models dressed to look slightly androgenous swaying to the music and pretending to play their instruments. As a whole it appears to some kind of joke about fashion, an enthusiastic song about love contrasted against the indifferent gazes of a bunch of models.

Last fall I began writing a screenplay about a cult-like ufology organization and its founder named Von Varagon. As this was my first crack at a screenplay I vowed I wouldn't do any editing until I finished the draft. I did so because I tend to edit content as go, which slows my progress and probably eliminates the wrong stuff.

This approach seemed to have worked for a while. I managed to get over 40 pages. I was pleased and confident enough in the effort that I even created a project site at www.vonvaragon.com and a cafepress store (say what you will. the coffee mug is awesome.)

Most people that know me are aware of my complete hetero-man-crush on Bruce Campbell. He is totally my hero. You might know him from his many projects, Evil Dead, Xena, Spiderman and most recently the completely kick-ass show Burn Notice. He acts, he directs, he writes, he just kicks all kinds of ass.

More to the point of this post though. Several years at one of my comic book signings, I created a comic book back in High School and still have boxes of the damned thing, I found Bruce Campbell's autobiography, 'If Chins Could Kill – Confessions of a B Movie Actor.' Not only is the book funny as hell it is in some ways a blue print of how to go about making your own independent movie.

I invented this.

I'm not nuts about most critics and it has very little to do with the thickness of my skin. It is because most critics offer very little criticism.

You'll notice I didn't put constructive before criticism. That's right, I'm one of those types who doesn't define it any other way. There is no good, no bad, just constructive criticism or self-serving gibberish.

The title kind of says it all. Making movies is ridiculously hard. I mean, I have got to work on a lot of small scale projects, and the sheer amount of stress I get from those can be overwhelming, I can't imagine what it must be like with a movie that is worth hundreds of million dollars. I'm a pretty lucky guy. Over the years I have got to work on a lot of fun video projects, a wide variety of fun video projects. I got to help on a music video shoot, I shot part of a State basketball tournament, I've made short films, I've worked on commercials and documentaries. It has been very different work and each one was a very different experience. The only common denominator with all of them, they all were hard.

I'm just going to throw this out there. I fancy myself something of an writer. I'm not going to say a great writer, but a writer. To date I have written three one-acts, three short films, four Writer's Guild registered scripts, two comic books and the beginnings of a novel. I haven't done this alone at all either, I owe all my work to my writing partner, my Dad. My computer is full of half starts and almost finished scripts and plays. I love writing, hell I love writing on this blog.

I like video. I like music. I like music videos. I know it is some kind of magical cosmic synergy. Yes, I used synergy in my first real post to the Sprocket blog, sue me. Now I know many of you are asking, 'Derek... don't most music videos suck?' Answer, yes. A lot do. I think a lot of the problem is poor songs to start with and cliche ridden videos that pander to the lowest common denominator. Sometimes, yes sometimes, you hit that synergy (Ha, used it twice) between a great song and a great video to go with it. What got me thinking about all of this music video goodness is that Monte asked if I would be willing to work on a music video for his forthcoming album. Keep checking his blog on this site to find out more info on that as it comes out.

Welcome to my blog. In order to introduce myself to Dirty Sprocket enthusiasts I have compiled a list of some of my favorite items from across the entertainment world and why I cherish them.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-The classic 1971 Novel by Hunter S. Thompson. Wrapped inside the madness is a thought provoking commentary on the time and place of its setting. Also Thompson was one hell of a writer. If you like Fear and Loathing check out The Curse of Lono as well.

Way back in 2002, shortly after moving back to the Black Hills, I found myself without a band. In the 16 years previous, since 1986, I had been actively engaged in some sort of musical collaboration. Sure, there had been brief lulls during that period, but I usually had a pretty good idea of what was coming next. This time, I didn't have a clue, although I was confident that I'd find something quickly, if I wanted. That turned out to be a false assumption.