My surprise 40th birthday present… Tactical Response!

Some of you may know that I’m turning 40 this November. Some of you may know of my wife Tara’s penchant for birthday surprises… Most of you probably know that I don’t really like surprises much. Well, there’s and exception to every rule, and Tara has outdone herself with my birthday surprise for this, the Big Four Oh.

I’m being sent, along with good friend Kyle Cassidy, to Memphis, Tennessee for the weekend of October 25 to attend a serious continuing education class:

We’re going to Tactical Response, a school that teaches advanced firearms training to military, police SWAT teams and qualified civilians. The curriculum we are taking is an intensive, two-day course called Active Shooter. Here is the posted info on the course:

Chinese Adoption Update…

photo courtesy of KlinischUndicht

Some not-so-good news from La Vida International, our adoption agency: Because of the international ruckus caused by the impending Summer Olympic Games, China is continually slowing the international adoption process for all countries, including the United States. This basically means that we are looking at Spring 2009 now as our travel date to pick up little miss future Ming Mei…

It’s truly a blessing that we are not attached to this outcome the way some families are, or we’d be going mad by now. The attrition rate stands at about one fourth, with roughly 25% 0f families who started the process when we did dropping out of the program as of this month. We’re going to remain patient, and focus on the new Brainclaw release, our photography and martial arts, as well as completing our journey to become debt-free.

Here are some thoughts as we approach the two-year mark for our adoption process…

Where does he get those wonderful toys?

I’m 39 years old. I still love toys.

I love Godzilla and Ultraman toys. I love toy guns. I love real guns.

I love electronic toys, like robots. I especially love big ticket toys that I can’t afford to get very often, like digital cameras, pro audio gear and semiautomatic rifles.

That brings me to my most expensive obsession. I collect synthesizers, primarily under the nearly transparent excuse of needing them for my music project, BRAINCLAW.

Here is my latest acquisition: The Access Virus KB.

New Brainclaw song on Weatherhead 3 compilation

Telegrammetry/Hypervoxx Recordings has just released Weatherhead 3, a new electro-industrial compilation containing many great tracks by a fantastic collection of established and up-and-coming electro-industrial artists. Featured on this mega-comp is Brainclaw’s never before released, exclusive remix of “Feed The Machine.”

Brainclaw shares space on the compilation with such artists as label-mate Stigmata NL, as well as brand-new offerings from Diverje, Synaptic Defect, Stahlschlag and many others. It’s a massive, 2 CD, 25 track electro behemoth, not to be missed by fans of the genre. You can grab your own copy from Amazon.com right here. Or get your copy from from CDBaby.com.

Special thanks to all of our friends at Telegrammetry/Hypervoxx for the opportunity to appear on this cool new compilation!

D-War… easily the coolest movie I’ve seen in some time!

OK. This is a movie I had been following for a few years. It is a very fun film from Korean director Hyung-rae Shim. I wasn’t expecting much, but I love a good giant monster movie, probably MORE than the next guy.

I didn’t see it in the theater, but did buy it when it came out on DVD.Tara and I sat down last night and popped it in. The hell with Cloverfield…Holy crap.This movie was so much fun we had our jaws hanging open through most of it! The movie centers on an ancient Korean legend, about unknown creatures that will return and devastate the planet.

Reporter Ethan Kendrick is called in to investigate the matter, and he arrives at the conclusion that a girl, stricken with a mysterious illness, named Sarah is suppose to help him. The Imoogi Baraki (the ass-kicking badguy dragon) makes its way to Los Angeles, wreaking havoc and destruction.

Brainclaw hangs with Information Society!

I was lucky enough this weekend to meet and hang with another very influential band that I love - Information Society.

I was assisting Philadelphia photographer Kyle Cassidy with the Information Society photo shoot back stage at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, and was able to spend quite a bit of time with the boys of InSoc.

We were able to see their whole sound-check as well, which sounded fantastic. They have heavily-customized synthesizers and a mutant bass guitar that set me drooling… cool stuff!
They were all extremely cool people, clearly intelligent and creative types. They have an excellent new album out called Synthesizer, on Dancing Ferret Discs. We recommend you check it out.

Many thanks to Kyle for the opportunity!

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Happy Holidays to all of our friends and family!

Happy Halloween, fellow FREAKS!

the pumpkin artist

David and Tara of Brainclaw wish each one of you a happpy Halloween!

My review of a Tiny Brute: The Kahr PM9 9mm autopistol

Because of budgetary constraints, it isn’t every day that we get to fill in a missing piece in the Giuffre Armory. We are very practical gun owners and shooters, and really only get kit that we need.My need started back when I first started carrying a defensive handgun when I was 21 years of age. I got my permit, and promptly bought the most futuristic and powerful handgun I could lay my hands on: The Glock 20 chambered for 10mm Auto.

This was a huge gun, and I had trouble concealing it on the best of days. Good thing was, it was a really powerful man-stopping round, and I could shoot it really well. I finally gave it up and bought the slightly smaller Glock 19, which was chambered for the more readily-available, much cheaper, but weaker 9mm round. I then went even smaller, and traded that gun in for the relatively tiny Glock 26, all in the quest for a small, concealable weapon for year-round concealed carry. Finally, last year, I traded back up to the 10mm Glock 29, which remains my powerful companion three seasons out of the year, usually riding in a Fobus holster on my right hip, under a jacket.

The Mark of a fantastic company…

Today I found out what an unbelievable company Mark Of The Unicorn is…

MOTU (their affectionate diminutive) designs and manufactures the best music production software and hardware in the business. Brainclaw has used MOTU’s Digital Performer program for years, and all Brainclaw music is written, sequenced, recorded and mixed inside this powerful and dynamic Macintosh-based environment. We also have used MOTU audio interfaces for years.