Scott H. Biram and the Thankless City

So Scott H. Biram is returning to the Hitone Cafe on January 28th and I have a few words for Memphis Tennessee.



Why is it that so few of you 'blues fans' are showing up for his shows? He's performed at the Hitone several times and always the turn-out is slimmer than it should be. Scott H. Biram is a blues musician with deeply apparant influences of hillbilly, country, and punk-all of which make for an amazing live performance. His work is gritty and poignant and powerful-everything a blues show should be. So why are the hot spots on Beale, replete with their endless selection of tepid Delbert McClinton cover acts, receiving all the attention when such greatness is only a couple of miles down the road? You tell me. I'm going to be generous and assume that it's because people simply don't know he's there, or that they haven't taken the time to discover he or other great acts like him. For the readers of this post, both of those reasons should no longer exist.

I am not after an enormous number of viewers on Youtube. I will never be a candidate for 'King of the Web' and I will likely never ask you to vote me into a top spot of some kind. What I will do is ask that you pass this blog link around to anyone you think might be willing to promote this show or drive to attend it. I'll venture to say that even if you live a few hours from Memphis (or any of the other cities on his tour), you'll find it well worth your time to make the trip. I have always made it a point to expose my viewers to great music and I am so happy when you all tell me that you've discovered someone due to the music on my channel. I hope that if you haven't heard of Scott H. Biram before now, you are now a fan. And if you did know about him, that you're doing what you can to support him by purchasing his music and attending his shows.

I was born and raised in Memphis. I love the musical history in my home town and wish that the artists that create lovingly authentic music in the same genres that made the city famous could continue to rely on it for appreciation and acknowledgement.

Thanks for reading and sharing this post.

xxoo,
Ashley

Viva Fit Club Update!~The 100 Workout

Hup, Two, Three, Four...!

So here we are only four months away from The VLV Rockabilly Weekender and the Viva Fit Club Facebook Group is SWINGIN'! 356 members and counting! So have you joined up yet? If not, please hop over because we need you! I can't believe how motivating all of you ladies have been for me. With all this time off ahead of us, it's good to have some folks around to keep us on track.

Anyway, I'm trying hard to keep up my water intake and my calories down. This part has been difficult for me since I tend to get busy and forget to eat...thus over-eating when the hunger hits. However, I've found that the 'My Fitness Pal' app for Iphone has really helped. It's the easiest thing I've found for keeping an accurate record of caloric intake and calories burned through exercise. It also allows you to follow the progress of your friends and help keep them motivated! So make sure to check that out as an option if you are the type of person who likes to keep a diary of such things.

Since the start of the Viva Fit Club, two posts in particular stood to me, donated by other members of the group and greatly appreciated. First, I was intrigued by the recipe for 'Sassy Water', which is supposed to help flatten the belly when you drink it along with a low calorie diet. Here is the recipe as it was posted. You're supposed to drink two liters (!) a day. I haven't started it yet but I have all the ingredients so I think I'm gonna mix up my first batch tonight.

Here's the recipe, for anyone else who's interested:

Sassy water
2 liters of water
1 tsp fresh Ginger
1 medium cucumber, sliced
1 med lemon, sliced
12 mint leaves
Mix together in pitcher and refrigerate over night. Drink 2 liters in a day.

Thanks Rachel Davis for this info!

The 2nd post that intrigued me was the idea for the workout linked above, called the '100's workout' ( I can't find the original post but thanks to whomever posted it!). I tried it for the first time today...and yes, it's a butt-kicker! I thought I'd let you know how I tailored it to my own fitness level and also how I made it through:

Disclaimer: I am not a fitness professional. This is an account of my own attempt at this work out and is not an indicator of what I feel YOU should do. Always consult a professional before beginning this or any other work out routine.

~ 100 Jumping Jacks-This was BY FAR the hardest part of the workout for me. I have always tried to do jumping jacks the right way (as taught by celebrity fitness guru Kendall Hogan) so I end in a squat and try never to bounce. The problems with that is that I was DEAD by 40 jumping jacks. So I took a quick breather and finished in the traditional 'grade school' way, staying lighter on the feet. I was able to finish very winded but alive.

~90 crunches-It's SUPER easy to zone out while you're doing crunches, especially when you do a bunch in a row like this. I mixed up this part by doing 20 full range crunches, 20 oblique twists, 20 bicycles, 20 full range crunches, and then finishing with 20 oblique twists.

~80 squats-That's A LOT of squats. And in other work outs I've done, you don't usually do a bunch of full-range squats in a row. So I mixed this part up by doing 10 slow squats, 10 short range squats, 10 plie squats (toes turned out) until I reached 80. It was'nt bad at all.

~70 leg raises-35 on each leg. Not too difficult.

~60 Jumping Jacks-Significantly easier than 100, let me tell you!

~50 Crunches-25 bicycles and 25 full range crunches

~40 squats-This time I did 20 full range squats and 20 lunges. I thought this workout needed lunges. haha

~30 Leg Lifts-15 each leg. Kind of a breeze, by this point.

~20 Jumping Jacks

~ Run for 10 minutes- Since I had the kids around, I couldnt take a run around the block or anything. I ran/jogged in place for 5 minutes and stretched for 5 minutes.
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Anyway, this is a great workout and I think it would be excellent for those days you want to get a lot done quickly. I figure by the Fitness Calculator on My Fitness Pal, the calories burned are probably about 235 calories. I entered it as 30 minutes of 'Circuit Training'. Let me know if you feel it qualifies as another category instead?

Cheers, ladies!
Ashley

Shame On Me!

No posts since the 18th of November? I have been far too busy and have sadly neglected my blog! I promise to try to post at least once a week from now on!

I hope all of you are well!
Ashley