Broeknrule - Life, Music, Passion

How to Undo A Bra With One Hand

2007-08-01T15:30:00.003Z

Couldn't help it, had to post this, its brilliant!

VideoJug: How To Undo Her Bra With One Hand

How to avoid a Trapped Arm in Bed

2007-08-01T15:24:00.000Z

VideoJug: How To Avoid Trapped Arm Whilst Cuddling In Bed

Potatoes

2007-07-07T09:52:00.001Z

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his potato garden but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son Fred, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Fred,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love,
Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
For heaven's sake, don't dig up that garden! That's where I buried the BODIES!
Love,
Fred

At 4am the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love,
Fred

I always knew beer was a lifesaver

2007-07-06T19:20:00.001Z

Man Peed Way Out Of Avalanche
From ananova.com
January 27, 2005

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.

He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."

Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.

Rain

2007-07-03T17:23:00.000Z

Oh, look, what a change, its raining. What joy, what wonder, water from the sky, life giving water plant growing water, flood causing, depresion making wet, cold stuff arrggggghhhhhhh, make it stop!!!!

3 weeks, have we seen any sun? Well, yeh I guess we have but thats not the point, its horrible out there at the moment and its making me feel so, well so bleuarghhh. Know what I mean?

Take today for example, I woke to find my throat had been invaded by hedgehogs, once I got rid of them and realised my chest infection had got worse I realised there were frogs down there as well. Why? Because of the rain, thats why. But then I looked out of the window, a smile came to my face, the sun was there, blazing down, calling me outside, calling me to bask in its presence and recharge the batteries.

So I jumped in the shower, had my wash and got ready to go outside. Got to the door and it had gone, it had been teasing me, the rain was there in its place.

Please sun, whatever I have done to annoy you, forgive me and come back!!

Talent on Tv

2007-06-28T17:49:00.000Z

It seems that a couple of channels have gone mad on these talent show programmes. I have to say that I am not interested at all but came across this the other day and have to say I love it!

Street Drummers

2007-06-26T16:54:00.001Z

Watching this makes me wish that I had kept practising with the pots pans and bins as a child!

Smells Like Teen Spirit......

2007-06-26T16:46:00.001Z

Like you have never seen it before..........

Gotta love Vancouver

2007-06-26T16:24:00.000Z

Noah in 2007

2007-06-25T11:31:00.000Z

In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in England and said, “Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing, along with a few good humans.”

He gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying, “You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.”

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

“Noah!” He roared, “I’m about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?”

“Forgive me, Lord,” begged Noah, “but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval because the Ark was over 30m2. I’ve been arguing with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler system.
My neighbours claim that I should have obtained planning permission prior to building the Ark in my garden because it is development of the site even though in my view it is a temporary structure, but the roof is too high. I had to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

The Local Area Access Group complained that my ramp was going to be too steep, and the inside of the Ark wasn’t fully accessible, then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, the RSPCA sued me.

They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will - arguing the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the County Council, the Environment Agency and the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn’t build the Ark until they’d conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many BMEs I’m supposed to hire for my building team.

The trades unions say I can’t use my sons. They insist I have to hire only CSCS accredited workers with Ark-building experience.

To make matters worse, the Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I’m trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark.”

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, “You mean you’re not going to destroy the world?”

“No,” said the Lord. “The government already beat me to it.”

Not gone yet!

2007-06-22T15:00:00.000Z

So thought I would post this, one of the best music videos out there. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

I'm off camping for the weekend

2007-06-22T14:58:00.000Z

I know, big question, WHY?

Anyway, until I return.....

Jurassic fart

2007-06-20T14:30:00.000Z

Moooooove it!

2007-06-20T14:28:00.000Z

Who's company is this?

2007-06-10T13:17:00.000Z

This is fantastic, all I can say is that once we get enough employees at musicfinity, we have to make something like this to send out as an advertisement!! In fact, stuff it, wanna be a part of a video similar to this (not the same, can't completely rip it off) and you could help advertise www.musicfinity.com

I have asked for requests and I have had them

2007-06-07T21:47:00.000Z

Seems that some of my mates wanted some of this series of doctor who posted up, here are the two latest episodes, which I have to say were very good. 2 cause it was a 2 parter.

Family Guy to come soon.....

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Online Videos by Veoh.com

For those of you that are bugging me............

2007-06-07T21:30:00.000Z

For those of you that are bugging me to update my blog.............. I'M BUSY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS????? I DON'T PONCE AROUND JUST WORKING WEEKENDS OR AT THE YMCA (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) SO GET OVER IT, HMMMMMM, HMMMMMMMMMMM?

Anyway, I am in a bad mood, but for thosae of you that know Steve (aka BCEE, aka went to ibiza cause culdn't hack the uk, aka The great flag worship lover) here is a little video taken by the guys from AORTA who went to visit him!

ps, I love you guys and know you haven't really been bugging me and know you are not poncing about but I went for the cheap laugh!

Something Fun

2007-05-22T13:54:00.000Z

A little game for your enjoyment, especially if you remember the platform games of the 80's.

MindScape

Been a little heavy tonight so.......

2007-05-21T18:55:00.000Z

Thought I would put the next episode up early.......

Online Videos by Veoh.com

So I am Talking Tomorrow Part 2

2007-05-21T18:43:00.000Z

I just realised that I went off on one in the post below and didn't actually talk about what I was going too, hense the title not matching up.

Basically, I am talking tomorrow to what we call our house group. Basically, house group is a small group from church that meets at my house. The reason being that it is hard to build up friendships with people in the larger format of church so in the smaller groups, we can come together, learn about our faith and support one another to the best of our abilities.

Tomorrow, I have been asked to talk on 'The Character of God'. It an interesting subject and there are many different aspects I could pick on, in fact just 30 mins of research into the bible tells me that God is:

1. Compassion , Mercy, Grace
2. Love
3. Impartiality
4. Patience
5. Goodness
6. Justice
7. Holiness and Truth
8. Perfection
9. Wisdom
10. Faithfulness
11. Sovereignty
12. Glory
13. Jealousy
14. Immutability

I could tell you more about each one and give you verses that back it up (and if you want me to do that please comment) but the thing I have been thinking about is this:

Tere is only so much you can get from a talk about what God is like but if you don't experience it, what does it mean? The answer I have come up with is simple, it means nothing. I cooked a spinach and ricotta lasagne tonight (with added meat, vegetarian? whats that?) but it was the first time I had used the recipe. I could read it and be told about it as much as I liked, I might start to believe it was good and even tell a few people about it based on reccomendations and the picture that Deia gave me but unless had tasted it tonight, I probably would have forgotten about it quite soon. We need to have the experience of God that people that wrote about Him in the bible had.

You may think thats a wierd thing to say but I have experienced God, I would not have such a strong idea about what I believe if not. So how do I make sure that I am not just talking about things but actually helping people to experience what I have, especially if they are in difficult situations which when you say God is Faithful makes them real in anger because that is not what they are experiencing at that time.

Well, I'm going to come back to that, hopefully on Wednesday.

So, I am talking tomorrow......

2007-05-21T18:28:00.000Z

Some of you that don't know me really well, might not know that I believe in God. In fact, when I moved to Norwich, I joined my cousin in planting a new church into the city center. You may wonder why I say that I believe in God rather than saying I am a Christian, well, the word Christian sometimes conjurs up some interesting pictures in peoples heads and that is something I don't want to do.

I have never started a conversation telling someone that I am a Christian, indeed its not until someone really gets to know me that they find out exactly what I believe. Why is that you may ask, is it because you are ashamed? Is it because you are worried?

There is one reason and one reason only why I don't come out with it straight away, I like people to get to know me, to become friends with me for who I am. Lets face it, when someone says they a Christian it often brings up negative images straight away, even to me and I am one.

I love talking to someone and getting into conversations that are deep, the kind that you only get into once you are real friends and then speaking about my faith, after all, at that point I am being invited to talk about what I believe.

If you want to know why I am a Christian, feel free to ask a question in a comment on this post, in the meantime, let me tell you how it changes the way that I run te record label.

As you probably know, the record label is called Broeknrule, why? Because we want to break the rules of the record industry, we want to act fairly, we want to treat the artists and the fans with the up most respect and not just be after their money. People have said to me that you can't do business in a moral and fair way, I hope to prove that wrong.

I would love to converse with people that have a belief, please leave a comment below if you do. It doesn't need to be in the Christian God, it could be Budda, yourself or even Captain Kirk, let me know!

Some quite good quotes.........

2007-05-21T12:25:00.000Z

These are some quite good quotes I discovered the other day. All about Christianity, I think they sum things up really well.

I have more and will probably add some soon.

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

C.S. Lewis

....................................................................................

For when we cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything.

G. K. Chesterton

....................................................................................

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.

C. S. Lewis

....................................................................................

If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped.

Evelyn Underhill

....................................................................................

Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.

D.L. Moody

Blackadder.... Episode 5

2007-05-21T11:27:00.000Z

Online Videos by Veoh.com

A game for you.......

2007-05-21T11:21:00.001Z

I love this game, ever wondered what its going to be like to get old? Something like this I guess????.........

http://www.kewlbox.com/games/GameLaunch.aspx?GameId=241

Help Needed

2007-05-17T10:26:00.000Z

Ok, for once, a serious note! I need you help.

In the Autumn, I will be running some tours around the UK, Europe and America. I need to get the bands names out there as music as I can, the main one being Mowglee.

You can check out the band and their music at www.musicfinity.com/mowglee and the best thing you can do to help if you like them, is register and click the recommend a band tool. This will send out an email to your contacts letting them know about the band which is invaluable exposure for us.

Thanks!!

Mike

Episode 4

2007-05-17T10:24:00.000Z

I would hate to keep you waiting for the next episode, so here it is......

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Sad News

2007-05-17T10:06:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago, I was overjoyed to see that the lovely pheasant in our garden had had a litter of around 8 chicks. They were happily following the mother around the garden so I gave them some food. I was hoping that Roland, my pet Blackbird, who comes and says hello every time I am doing the garden and is almost at the point of eating food from my fingers, wouldn't get too jealous but it seems that he has.

A turf war has started and the Blackbird has hired a fox to do its dirty work. I went down the garden yesterday to find a lot of feathers on the grass, the pheasant was gone, her chicks? I have no idea. And you know the worst thing, some of you are laughing at this, yes, you know who you are (your name starts with a J)

This has been most disturbing to me, that Pheasant was becoming a big part of my life. I was drooling every time I thought about it, thinking about how plump I could get it before getting Craigs gun and having it on a plate in the Autumn. And it wasn't just the pheasant, it had produced 8 more meals for me, I don't know how my belly will cope!!!

Please join with me in my mourning. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, roast pheasant.

And todays episode is........

2007-05-16T13:10:00.000Z

I believe we are up to episode 3, so here it is........

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Busy Days

2007-05-16T13:03:00.000Z

Oh my goodness, I know I have to keep this up to date but its so busy right now, its almost impossible. All I will say today is thank goodness God is on my side. So far this week, I have had two things that have been really good developments which were both things I had been really praying about last week.

The first is to do with the Musicfinity.com development which has taken a lot longer than expected and the other is to do with the PA Hire side of the business which, since moving to Norwich has died a death.

So, thanks God for helping me out, especially as these were two things I had no idea how to sort and you have just done it for me.

Back from France

2007-05-14T20:30:00.000Z

Well, here I am back in the UK after spending the last 4 days getting to France and back. Its quite a long way! I spent £62, 6 hours and 400 miles on the train, 20 hours in a car, driving 1200 miles and 3 hours on a ferry. And what for? A 45 minute gig. Thats right, 45 minutes of fame for Mowglee, the first band I ever took on.

In fact, that was about 3 years ago now and at last we are managing to get them out there a bit more. In fact, later this year we have a European, American and Uk tour planned. Should be fun!!!

As it happens, the 45 minutes we played in France was probably the best we have ever had, I will post some video of it on here soon, the people at the gig loved it!!

Anyway, I know what you are thinking.......... You want me to shut up my rambling and post another episode of Blackadder! Well I am hurt, but I can't blame you, here it is...

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Last for today but not least

2007-05-10T10:03:00.000Z

Well, you have to have a game as well........

http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/BowMaster-Prelude.html

I seem to have got rather addicted to this. Nearly as much as:

http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Boxhead-More-Rooms.html

A new feature of my blog....

2007-05-10T09:57:00.000Z

I seem to have found a site that allows you to embed loads of tv stuff into your websites so I thought to keep you entertained while I am away for a few days I would start a series of Blackadder on here. I am starting with Blackadder goes Forth, only because it was the series I remember most and got into first. I just love Blackadder!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Oh Dear

2007-05-10T09:42:00.000Z

Oh deary me, it seems that I have not updated this since December. The fact is, its because I have been lazy, simple as that but I was talking to someone the other day and it made me realise it was time to carry on.

I commented that I had not been on here for a while and they said, 'yes, not since the 29th December'. It was at that point I realised that people do actually read what is on here so here we go, time to start again!

Only one problem, I am starting this on the day that I leave to work in France for a couple of days with no internet access so I won't actually be writing anything for a few days, sorry.

In the meantime, below are some small videos from a gig I did at the weekend, enjoy.... ps. Toby Mac, Brilliant!!!!!!

Something a little Christmassy

2006-12-29T12:14:00.000Z

This is a spoof song/video from the band Family Force 5 (who incidentally, I am bringing over from the USA in May to play some gigs here in the uk!) which I think is quite funny.

The band, although relatively unheard of here are big in the states and have appeared next to the likes of The Pussycat Dolls and many more.....

Pain in the Neck

2006-12-29T11:46:00.000Z

There are so many things in this world the are a pain in the neck but it seems none more so than an actual pain in the neck! You see, this morning, I awoke at 4am to discover that a problem I had had some time back in my neck had re-occurred. The first time it happened, lets call it 'Neck affliction', was about a year ago and I remember having to drive down to Portsmouth to meet a band whilst being unable to turn my head. Not a problem until you get to either a junction or if you are trying to change lanes on the motorway. Whats even worse is that because you look like a robot, people just laugh at you, in fact sympathy was given by no-one. But I got through it and after a week, I had managed to defeat the pain, just your average war movie.

Unlike most film sequels 'Neck Affliction 2 - Meetings of dread' was not only a better storyline but included romance and far more pain. It was bad enough that my German girlfriend was going back to Germany that weekend and I had planned a lovely weekend that was ruined by a phone call reminding me that I was supposed to be elsewhere in the country but to then have the agony of the neck pain really topped it off. It all ended up really lovely with Anja joining me at the hotel I was staying at so that we could still have our last weekend together but what wasn't nice was me walking around the town center at 5 in the morning desperately trying to find somewhere that might sell pain killers.

2 weeks later the pain had finally subsided and all went back to normal.

So, here we are, 2 days off the biggest party night of the year and its back ' Neck affliction 3 - This time with a vengeance'. I awoke at 4am in agony, couldn't move for 20 minutes and then managed to get into the shower to try and sooth it with hot water. No good! I ended up going to the hospital and waiting 2 and a half hours to be seen. As I was taken through and sat down to start another wait I overheard a very old man in the cubical next to me asking a nurse if he could go home. 'Not yet' she replied, 'the doctor is just coming over'. The doctor turns up and with a loud (he was a bit deaf) and dispassionate vice declares ' sir, you have broken your neck'. At this point the gentleman, probably well into his 80's says 'so can I go home now then?'.

Of course the answer was no but to then have the same doctor come to deal with my neck which certainly isn't broken left me at a bit of a disadvantage. A quick feel round it and he declared it a muscle spasm although why it should keep re-occurring is apparently a mystery. O top of that, apparently, it only lasts a couple of days and then goes away, oh no it doesn't! Apparently, the reason as to why the pain is with me for 2 weeks or more is also a mystery. But of course, we wouldn't like to investigate and check any of these things would we, this is not an episode of House, its much better to stuff some drugs in my hands and watch me 'do the crouch' as I walk off into the sunrise and live painfully ever after.....

Will It Blend?

2006-12-29T11:39:00.000Z

With questions like 'What is the Meaning of Life?' and 'Where will I go when I die?' open to being answered on this blog, you might wonder why I am asking 'Will it Blend?'.

Well wonder no more, check out the videos below and you will know

Ipod

Toy Cars

Marbles

Shower Time..............

2006-12-29T11:26:00.000Z

I would like to start this post by apologising to those of you that rely on frequent posts in my blog to get you through your hard days at work.......... Due to Christmas, I have not had the time to update but will put a few things on today to keep you entertained James!

HOW MEN AND WOMEN SHOWER DIFFERENTLY . . .

How To Shower Like a Woman

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks. Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas. Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc. Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone. Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins. Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean. Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner. Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red. Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash. Rinse conditioner off hair. Shave armpits and legs. Turn off shower. Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower. Spray mould spots with bathroom cleaner. Get out of shower. Dry with towel the size of a small country. Wrap hair in super absorbent towel. Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile. Walk naked to the bathroom. If you see wife along the way, shake penis at her making the 'woo-woo' sound. Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your penis and scratch your butt. Get in the shower. Wash your face. Wash your armpits. Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off. Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower. Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area. Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap. Wash your hair. Make a Shampoo Mohawk. Pee. Rinse off and get out of shower. Partially dry off. Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time. Admire penis size in mirror again. Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on. Return to bedroom with towel around waist. If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake penis at her and make the 'woo-woo' sound again. Throw wet towel on bed.

I can't help it........

2006-12-19T11:29:00.001Z

One more Peter Griffin compilation

Continuing the Family Guy theme.......

2006-12-19T11:19:00.000Z

The Best Bits of Peter Griffin

Family Guy

2006-12-19T11:09:00.000Z

For anyone that knows me, this post does not come as a suprise, I love Family Guy and watch it far too much. It makes me laugh so hard that I nearly wet myself!

This scene is taken from one of the latest episodes, the family is about to die when Peter makes one last confession.......... Oh, and it looks like they finally understand Stewie.

Photos from Germany

2006-12-13T14:42:00.000Z

'Where?' I hear you say? For a post entitled 'Photos from Germany', this seems to e a rather bland piece of writing with not a sight of colour, landmarks or people. Well, there is a reason for that, following my last post, I have to admit that there was another thing that I did not take with me, a camera.

After all, why in this day and age do we need one? We have phones which can capture all the footage we need, unless of course we forget our chargers! By the way for those of you worried about how I am coping without a phone I can assure you that I am holding in tere at the moment. Its not easy and every hour I think 'ah, I must call so and so', it is then that reality dawns on me and I swear at myself for being such a fool.

The worst thing is that I am waiting for about 10 people to get back to me about things. It is very easy for them to ignore my emails so I need to phone some of them and give them a nudge (you know who you are!) but I can't. Hense I am going over to my parents early tonight (they have invited me for dinner) so that I can nab their phone for half an hour. I know what you are thinking, 'Mike, you have a landline, its on your website...'. Well, you would be right, in a way. Its a skype phone and it seems that my wireless internet has decided that it wants to really play up at the moment so I can't even use that.

Oh well, I will get back to talking to myself and cursing my stupidity every so often,

Mike

Take That, I'm home again

2006-12-12T17:37:00.000Z

Yes, I'm back in sunny England, I have to say, we all laugh about our weather but it was just as bad in Germany, just a little colder. As usual when I go away, I had forgotten a few essentials, a jumper, my phone charger and a razor being the main things this time. The razor was sorted easily enough, I used Anjas lady shave which as far as I was concerned was no different to any other razor. The only difference I can now see is that lady shavers are designed to cut blokes to pieces. I have not cut myself since I went through puberty and started trying to get rid of the fluffy haze that I referred to as a beard!

The phone charger was more tricky, I had to keep the phone turned off and just check messages once a day. It actually lasted until last night when I landed in London. I stayed overnight at my best mates, had 1 too many pints of Guiness and left it there this morning, DOH! Its being posted back to me tomorrow!

The Jumper was the thing that Anja decided to bring up at every given moment, whenever I thought I had a bit of one upmanship on a subject, I would be brought down to earth as I shivered in the cold wind as was asked why I was not wearing something warm, women!

I will tell you more about the trip over subsequent days, in the meantime, I have to tell you about the trip back. I was sat in the British Airways Plane praying that the overweight smelly man that had checked in behind me was not going to end up next to me when someone in front caught my eye. 'My', I thought, that man looks strangely like Mark Owen. Wow, thats a coinsidence the bloke next to him looks like Gary Balow. Well, no coinsidece, Take That were sitting 2 seats in front of me!

I decided not to say anything to them on the flight, I had a book to read, 48 pages left, I had to finish it before touch down.

On our departure from the plane I walked alongside them, pretended that I was with them, everyone turning thinking, 'I wonder who the new member of the band is?' It was at that point something terrible happened, I heard myself whistling a tune, not just any tune, I was whistling 'Want You Back' while walking alongside the band that had originally sung it. The shame, what must they have thought? It was at that point I thought of changing my hum to a Robbie Williams song, to see if I got a reaction but I resisted.

I had a bit of banter with them in the queue at the passport lounge but apart from that kept myself to myself, I work in the industry, I certainly wasn't going to come over all star struck!

I then left them, desperate for the toilet and found the urinals. Now those of you that are males reading this will know that the urinal in the middle is the least preferred, it is also the place where stage fright is most likely to happen. Not that I normally have a problem with that so up I went. All of a sudden, as if by magic, Mark Owen appears by the side of me, well that was it, I couldn't go. There is nothing worse than standing at the urinal, nothing happening and then having to pretend to finish and walk off STILL needing the loo. What was even worse is that I didn't want to admit I couldn't go so I just stood there and waited for Mark to finish as it was obvious what had happened if not. Well that man must have drunk the plane dry, I have never known anyone to pee for so long!

So there we go, a trip to Germany and a pee with Take That, you can never say my life is dull!

I'm in Germany!

2006-12-04T11:07:00.000Z

Yup, this post comes to you all the way from Germany, Dusseldorf to be precise, although this evening I leave for Bonne!

Having a good time out here at the moment, would you believe this is the first holiday I have had in 3 years? It is so nice to be able to relax and not bother about emails or the telephones....... ok, wel nearly not worry about that, the phone is being checked once a day and the emails twice but hey, I have a business to keep going, I can't just leave everything, can I?

I have to say, being me, it is very hard to relax, I am not the kind of person that can just sit and no worry about things, I enjoy having things to do, I enjoy moving the company forward, starting new projects, thinking up new ideas. So thats what I shall do, I will have a nice time in different surroundings, I will relax for some of the day and the rest I will plot. Plot the success of the company, world domination, I will be the emperor of Earth..... oops, got a little carried away there, but hey, there could be worse world emperors...............

The Ultimate Event

2006-11-29T09:41:00.000Z

Well, its official, I have been booked in to host this brilliant event again. I love The Ultimate Event and have worked with the guys that run it for about 5 years now. Its the largest 1 day Christian music event in the uk and has had some of the biggest Christian artists from around the world in past years.

The vision of the event is a simple one, to convey a positive message to the youth that come along. A message that will not be found in many other places in music.

This year they have Delirious, a band that has had 5 top 20 hits but has never been featured on Top of the Pops (RIP). This actually makes them the only band to have had that many chart entries that hasn't been featured on there. Why? Because the message in their songs may offend! May offend who? They had songs on there about sex, violence, death and worse but if a song contains lyrics about God it may offend? Strange!

We also have Toby Mac. Toby was one part of arguably the biggest Christian band of our time, DC Talk. Who? Well there hasn't been a whole lot of talk about them in the uk, in the usa though, they went platinum many times over! Toby brings with him some of the best HipHop, rock fusion there is!

Its going to be exciting, hopefully it will be a repeat of a couple of years ago when we sold out of all 12,000 tickets. Oh, and did I mention that its the whole day in Alton Towers theme park as well as the gig? Well it is, why would you NOT come?

Funny Video

2006-11-27T19:33:00.000Z

Its an old one but a good one, I love this:-

Norwich vs Hull

2006-11-26T20:12:00.000Z

OH DEAR!!!!!

When a manager that has been with the club for just over a month comes out with comments like this, you know there is going to be trouble!

"We needed the fans for the full 90 minutes and we didn't get that - for me that's a disgrace.

"I've got to choose my words carefully but I thought the supporters let us down badly, they never got behind us when we needed them most.

"I keep going on about passion and commitment. Does it work only one way?"

Yesterday was awful, if we had of won, that would have been a discrace, we were dreadful, where was the passion and commitment that Ggrant talks about? It may not have been in the stands but it certainly wasn't on the pitch either!

Its always a chicken and egg situation, if the team plays well the crowd get excited and sing and shout, the players then get a buzz out of it, play even better and the feeling grows. If you are treated to a no show like yesterday, what do the fans have to shout about? At least if the players get in there and kick a few lumps out of the opposition, it gets everyone excited, to stand back and let them play does nothing for anyone!

So Mr Grant, stick a foot up those players backsides and make sure they turn up on Tuesday. We know you have been left with a pretty poor team but the least they can do is have some of that passion you seem to think the fans need!

Motivation......

2006-11-26T19:38:00.000Z

Its amazing how difficult it can be running a business, especially when things don't go quite to plan. As a record label, we have often struggled to finance te projects we run and especially for me, believing that this is something that I have been called to do as part of my reason for being here on this Earth, it can really de-motivate me when things do not go as well as I hope.

Business often feels like......

I decided to visit a church that meets just down the road from me today, I have been feeling like I needed some time where I could just fade in, where people did not know me but I could focus and hopefully get some vision and direction.

Well all I can say is that the guy preaching had me in mind when he prepared. The talk reminded me of why I started up the business in the first place, the things that I had felt God say to me and that actually, God made me to be in this place. Knowing that means I know I am the best equipped to do this job at this time and that I am supposed to be doing this, even when the times get difficult.

Sometimes it feels like........

The best thing is that the things he said made me realise that actually, I have the answers as well. Just because sometimes I can't see a way forward doesn't mean that there isn't one, of fact, a lot of it is outlined for me, I just need to study the principles that the bible lays out and other things will fall into place. I have felt hurt recently, hurt that God did not seem to care, that decisions I had made had been the wrong ones and hurt because oter people had wronged me. I had forgotten one of the main things I used to say to people, /its not what happens to you in life that defines you, its the way you handle it.

Another thing that has really helped me to get things in perspective was a blog a friend of mine wrote about being intentional in your life, Check it out here, he is spot on with what he says and again, it has been inspirational for me, Thanks Finch!!!

I was reminded of this today and yes, sometimes the shit hits the fan, yes, sometimes things don't go to plan and it can be hard but over all, its the way I handle this that will see me be a success or a failure. Heres to an amazing few months, building the business, building my life and seeing others motivated through the things that happen to me.

Fantastic Pavement Art

2006-11-25T20:39:00.000Z

These pictures are by a British artist that paints not on canvas but on pavements, I think they are really cool so I put them on here.

MySpace and others

2006-11-25T20:23:00.000Z

Many people ask me what I think of myspace as someone in the industry, do record labels really look at it people ask me, the answer is yes, sometimes they do, usually after you have sent them a demo though. Labels don't tend to look through finding the best bands but if they hear a band they like they will often go on to their myspce to get a feel for their popularity.

Personally, I think that Myspace is a fantastic tool for bands. Bands no longer need websites as they have a myspace site that gives fans all they need, music, video, a blog and up to date news but I do have a problem with people that say myspace is one of the best marketing tools around.

Having a myspace is one thing, and yes sometimes people do just find your page as they trawl through BUT the fact is, you still need to market your myspace if you want people on it. The funny thing is, I must get about 3 emails a month from new sites that offer bands the chance to 'market' their music by having a page on thier site. Most of these are exactly the same as myspace, they have the music player, they enable you to add video and upload your gigs but again, you have to market your page if you expect people to look at it.

So why on earth are we about to launch our very own version, musicfinity? We believe we are going to do something different. Musicfinity will offer you all of the thngs above but will be a site to help bands, a site that will give bands all of the tools needed to market thmselves.

Musicfinity wil allow bands to send a press release to local and national media at the click of a button. Thier fans will be able to advertise the band to all of their contacts online at the click of a button. Bands will be offered gigs, some on fringe stages at some of the uk's biggest festivals. Basically, everything a band needs to enlarge their fan base and get their music out there should be on this site and just about all of it will be free.

And just to show that we are not completely against myspace and similar sites, it will automatically update the top 5 sites whenever a band updates their musicfinity page.

So hopefully, we can do something different and help bands build a name for themselves..... time will tell!!!

Its official, I look like Orlando Bloom....

2006-11-25T19:48:00.000Z

Found this on one of my mates blogs and thought I would give it a go..... Thanks Finchly, its given me at least half an hour of fun!! After the miserable display by Norwich this afternoon, its really cheered me up, ha!

And now I have found some pictures........

2006-11-24T21:17:00.000Z

I think I may go on about this gig for months.......... Found these potos in different places around the net, I still can't believe how good it looked. I know this is a really geeky question but if anyone knows where to find the specs on the lighting etc. let me know, I want to recreate some of this stuff in gigs I do!

Muse at Wembley

2006-11-24T13:29:00.000Z

Last night featured a trip to Wembley arena to see my oh so favorite band, Muse. Even though I had, quite possible the worst seats in the place, the gig was fantastic, the absolute best gig I have ever been too. The band are the most talented I have seen and the thought that had gone into the show, from the drum riser/space shuttle to the dancing cyborgs and the amazing 3D graphics, was amazing. It has given me so much inspiration and I can't wait to put some of the little things they did with their lighting into practice at some of the gigs I do. For your enjoyment, I have found these clips below, from the gig on youtube, I would post my own but they were too rubbish to even entertain the thought.....

The Opening.... Knights of Cydonia......

Intro to Plug In Baby....

Hysteria

The end of Bliss, the balloons appeared from behind the stage.......

Oh, and just on the offchance you wanted to know the setlist, here it is

01. Knights Of Cydonia (with trumpet)
02. Starlight
03. Butterflies & Hurricanes
04. Map Of The Problematique + Riff
05. City Of Delusion (with trumpet)
06. Plug In Baby
07. Forced In
08. Hysteria
09. Citizen Erased
10. Hoodoo
11. Invincible
12. Supermassive Black Hole
13. Time Is Running Out
14. New Born
***Encore***
15. Apocalypse Please
16. Bliss Extended (with balloons)
***Encore***
17. Muscle Museum
18. Stockholm Syndrome
19. Take A Bow

The whole of my life in one little bit of leather

2006-11-20T17:08:00.000Z

No, I am not about to talk bondage! I am talking about losing my wallet the other night, my whole life was in that things and the best thing? Would you believe it takes 7-10 working days to get my cards replaced, how do I do anything without cards? My life is ruled by being able to pay by card or to withdraw money with my card!

So, I have been trying to work out how to live for the next week without using any money. First problem: I ran out of hair wax this morning and with nothing to put in my hair, I am just a tall person with a weird frizz on top. So I break out my emergency cash, managed £5 so went to get hair stuff and milk cause I had run out of that too. Well, I am walking around the store and I see the wine section, anyone that knows me, knows this is the place you will usually find me in any store and they had some great bargains. The trouble is I was looking at them FORGETTING I had no money, arrgghhhh, the pain of seeing a good bottle of wine on offer and having to leave it on the shelf!

So this brings me onto my question for the day. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus did a huge amount of miracles; I have seen miracles happen, people being healed by prayer and so forth. So if I have seen miracles and witnessed things happening such as a blind man being able to see after being prayed for, can I recreate Jesus' first miracle and turn good old Anglian water into wine??

Well, I guess not, it’s not really as important as making someone better or turning an impossible situation around but it would make me happy...........

The Great X Factor Debate

2006-11-14T08:59:00.000Z

So, as someone in the industry, one of the questions I get asked the most is what do I think about X Factor. Well to start with, I have to say what a brilliant piece of business. The format of the programme draws people in and they fall in love with one of the acts, voting for them by text, generating lots of money which can be used to give them the '£1 million contract' and then because the public have been following their progress for 6-8 weeks they go and buy the record they release.

They don't even have to worry about what song that is, by the time it comes out, the public are so caught up they will buy anything!

I think the sad thing about the programme is that in the end it is all about the money, in the beginning about humiliating idividuals. The first stages, which by my own admission are the most entertaining, are about drawing an audience in by taking the piss out of people that have very little or no talent. Not the nicest thing, its not like you can normally invite people into your house, sit them down and rip them to pieces!

To put a different slant on that though, I would at this point like to mark my admiration for Simon Cowell. Yes, he can go over the top, yes he can be nasty but at least he is honest! I think I gained most respect for him when he took on the angry parents of a girl they said wasn't good enough and told them off for giving her false ambitions. It was great!

So anyway, in true broeknrule blog style, I have found a clip to go with this bit of rambling. I love this, Ant and Dec go to american idol to try out and fool Simon, funny!

Muse

2006-11-13T20:19:00.000Z

I am off to see Muse live on tour n the next couple of weeks, a band which I personally believe are one of the best the UK has ever spawned. Not only do they have fantastic tunes, a vocalist with a truely brilliant voice and a sound that really isn't like other bands out there, they have a great personality and can have a real laugh.

The video below is their first ever live performance of Bliss. Matt (vocalist and keyboard in this clip) looks as tough he has some trouble with the synth to start off with but gets it going and then looks truely proud of his achievement!

If you are sending me a demo, check out these guys first. If I can ever find an band that manages to experiment with sound and make music like Muse, I will sign them immediately!!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

I forgot to say....

2006-11-13T19:43:00.000Z

Go on you Yellows!!!!!

WBA 0 - 1 Norwich

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

Back to it

2006-11-13T19:29:00.000Z

I write this completely knackered and ready to collapse on the sofa and wait for Spooks. I love that programme and was once really looking into joining the secret services myself. With the amount of charaters that seem to get killed off in Spooks, I am rather gald I didn't

On the other hand, at that time, my wife had just left me and I really felt as though I had nothing and it wouldn't matter if I died or not. In Proverbs in the bible, its written that 'without vision the people perish'. That was exactly where I was, depressed, without vision, feeling like there was nothing left for my life. I am so glad that vision returned to me and the vision that I got was so much bigger than I had ever seen before. To set up a record lable that would be there to help bands, to be fair and to help Christian bands get to the same place as any others that are out there, in the charts.

The other thing, is that this project, this vision seems to be just as exciting as it would have been in MI5. Thanksfully, I don't look down the barrel of a gun each day but I do face constant challenges. I am happy to say that my faith really does help with these problems and the fact that I actually feel that God is more like a friend than anything else, really helps me when I pray. I have learned that I am allowed to get annoyed with Him (and I have got angry at times), He can take you swearing at him and asking Him what the hell is going on.

The main thing is, I really do feel like He helps me when I need it. I would never thrust this belief into someones face, in fact I very rarely mention it unless asked and am very happy for anyone to disagree with what I say on this blog. So go on, chuck a comment on here, let me know what you think, is there a higher force that can help us, Can this force guide us, give us vision and help us with work?

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

Norwich City Football Club

2006-11-11T13:20:00.000Z

Well, it was only a matter of time before I put a post in about Norwich City! One of the greatest passions in my life, football! Just started thinking about it as I wait for the radio commentry of todays game away at West Brom which we will probably lose. I then started thinking of some of my best memories, the one below against Man Utd stays in my memory not just because of our 2-0 win but because it was a match I couldn't get too. I was at a gig in Yorkshire, I had rushed through sound checks to make sure I could sit in the van and listen to the match, and what a match it was!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

The Ultimate Showcase

2006-11-11T12:37:00.000Z

Well, here I am working on The Ultimate Showcase, a competition that as a record lable we run in conjunction with Ultimate Events. If you don't know what The Ultimate Event is then you are missing out on a good one! The Ultimate Event is now in its 13th year and is an annual Christian music event at Alton Towers, the biggest theme park in the UK.

The Ultimate showcase is a competition that invites unsigned Christian artists to battle it our to become the the opening act at the gig. In the case of next years gig they will be supporting the likes of Toby Mac, Delirious and Ayiesha Woods.

So why am I writing about it? Well, because its really doing my head in at the moment. The website that we are running it off is over a month overdue and because of that we can't get the live semi finals sorted. By the end of the day, I want to have venues sorted for both the semis and also the final and know what other acts to get in headlining.

The best thing about this competition is the varitry of acts we have entering, its great to see the talent thats out there and see them come into their own as they play at their best to try and get their place in the finals. Our main vision as a record lable came through running youth events in Worcester with the local churches. Its where we met most of the bands we started working with and also saw te sruggles bands had at getting a big break.

On top of that, we noticed that some of the bands that were absolutely superb couldn't make it because they were Christians. The lable of 'Christian' had such a stigma to it that as soon as they mentioned it, people turned off and didn't want to listen. Where did this stigma come from? Well, personally I think many areas, as a Christian myself I avoid the people shouting on the street about going to hell, I hate it if someone knocks on my door and tries to tell me why I should accept Jesus into my heart, I HATE it when I am given tracks in the street! It really is no wonder that Christians get pigeon holed. The only ones that seem to be out there sharing their faith seem to be doing it in a way that is so irrelivant to our culture that they earn the rest of us a bad name.

So how are we supposed to act? Well, this is open to discussion and I would love to hear other people's thoughts on it so leave some comments! I will put my toughts down on the matter in a few days.

In the meantime, back the the Showcase. This is a great opportunity for bands to get a good gig, get noticed by thousands and build their fan base. Not because they are Christians or because of any message in their music but because they have great music. I would love to see more bands in the charts and on things like MTV. Did you know that Delirious are one of the only bands to have had 5 top 20 hits but not been shown on Top of the Pops (RIP)? Why? Because their lyrics might have offended people? Well, that doesn't seem to apply for a lot of other bands who really do have offensive lyrics. It will be interesting to see how we do, getting Christian bands just as far as we want to get bands that are not Christians on our lable as well. I wonder if we will have more problems?

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell 3

2006-11-11T12:03:00.000Z

Well, I woke this morning fully intending to have a day off but the first thing I see as I flick on the tv is something advertising te new single from Meatloaf. That means I decide to get my laptop out to see what his new offering is like and that means my brain kicks into gear and here I am writing in my blog and i'm about to start on some work.

So anyway, my thoughts on Meatloafs new single, 'The Monster is Loose'. Well first of all I had better explain that I am a bit of a closet Meatloaf fan (I hope none of my friends are reading this!) but 'The Monster is Loose' realy doesn't fulfil my expectations. Considering this offering is supposed to be Bat OUt of Hell 3 it offers none of the passion that the previous two managed and in my humble opinion has none of the top 10 qualities that kept Bat out of Hell in the charts for 474 weeks (did you know that the album still sells approx 200,000 copies per year?) or Bat out of Hell 2 at number one for 7 weeks in the uk charts (another random fact: Bat out of Hell 2 reached number one in 28 countries!).

One thing I have always liked about Meatloaf is definately still there though is a theatrical side of the music and although I have not been that impressed by the title track on this occasion, I have found other tracks that I really do like. Check some out for yourself below, I have included the 'trailer' (I thought only films had those) of Bat out of Hell 3 and also a video of another song off the album (which was on a previous one as well so I have no idea why its on there but I do like it, a lot!

Its All Coming Back To Me Now

The Trailer

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You have to love Trigger Happy TV

2006-11-10T22:03:00.000Z

Found this the other day, some of the best bits from the hidden camera show, Trigger happy TV, enjoy!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

Another bit of Ross

2006-11-10T20:29:00.000Z

Couldn't help it, I just love this guys standup, check this one out!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

So I put the funny for the day up............

2006-11-10T19:20:00.000Z

And then thought I might write something profound and interesting. I seem to be failing, all I seem to be able to get out of my head is lalala but you never know, something might appear.

To be honest, I am so tired from this weeks work, there is not a lot left in me. It is amazing how stressful it can be trying to run your own business, especially in the media world when anyone will do anything (and I mean anything) to get ahead of you.

I have had the chance to get ahead through underhand techniques in the past but have turned them down, why? Well because I really do believe that you can get ahead by doing things right, that you don't have to hurt other people and crawl all over them to get somewhere. The problem is, I have seen far MORE people move forward by absolutely crapping on anyone who gets in their way. How can the honest person manage to get anywhere if they are up against these others that will just kick us in the balls and leave us for dead?

Well, I have found that actually by being honest with certain companies has really helped me out recently. One large record label said to me that they normally wouldn't have given me the time of day but because I hadn't exaggerated and tried to pull the wool over their eyes with the things we were talking about they really wanted to deal with me. They then chatted to me for ages giving all sorts of advice!

So maybe this approach can work. Maybe the small honest independant label we are will one day rise up and be amoung the majors. You never know........

And I couldn't talk about honesty witout fnding a video about it!!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com

My First Post

2006-11-10T18:49:00.000Z

So, here we are, my first post. There are several things that I want to make sure of on this blog, 1)That anyone that reads this is thoroughly entertained and 2) that what I write is thought provoking.

So, lets start with entertaing! Below is a video I found recently of Ross Noble, this guy is the most random comedian I have ever seen. I went to his live show and laughed constantly for about 2 hours, it hurt and I think a little pee probably came out!

In this clip, Ross talks about my favorite programme, 24 and Ice cream vendors!

Check out our website at www.broeknrule.com