Four Years Later...
Four years ago I came home from a day of painting houses, sweating like a pig in the New Jersey summer heat, sat down at my computer and wrote these words:
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2007
Introduction to this Blog
Hello! My name is Ricky Riccardi and you can learn more about me in the (you guessed it) "About Me" section of this blog. I just wanted to take a second and discuss what this blog is all about. There are tons of Armstrong videos on YouTube and in my Itunes, I have 2,408 Armstrong songs arranged in chronological order. I plan on hitting "shuffle" on my Itunes and whatever Armstrong track comes up first, I will discuss it. I'll provide the musicians, the writers, the soloists, I'll give some analysis of the recording and I'll even tell you where you can buy it or listen to it. On some days, I'll post a YouTube video and do the same. You're more than welcome to comment and offer your own opinions or disagreements to whatever I write. There's really no order to anything, just a (hopefully) daily celebration of Armstrong's music! Enjoy!
****************
That's how this whole madness began. Today, four years later, is my 404th post. I'm celebrating it on a book tour, sitting in a hotel room in Washington D. C., about to make a television appearance in Baltimore. When the tour is over, I will resume my day job as Archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Seriously? This really happened?
It's crazy and pardon me if I still seem a little stunned by it all. Though I'll admit, when I started this blog, that was pretty much the goal: I wanted to form enough of a reputation to be able to publish a book and maybe work at the Louis Armstrong House Museum one day. Fairytales do come true, my friends...
Major thanks to all of you out there who have followed my exploits over the year on this here blog. It's been a complete "gassuh" and I hope to continue doing it til the end of time (and judging by the heat in Washington D. C., that could be this weekend).
I have a train to catch so I'm going to cut this short. But THANK YOU, YOU, and YOU for all the support over the years....Louis Armstrong touched so many people around the world during his time on earth (and afterwards) and it's just beautiful to be able to bask in that love with so many readers from around the planet.
And a quick thank you to the wonderful crowd at Politics and Prose last night, who really made my evening there extra special. And yesterday afternoon, I had a delightful one-hour appearance on Kojo NNamdi's radio show. Thanks to Michael Martinez, Caitlin, Kojo himself and the fantastic callers who made this hour extra memorable. If you'd like to hear it, click here
S'all for now. Thanks for sticking with me for four years....Pops is Tops!
[Update: Four years ago I wrote about having 2,408 songs on my Armstrong Ipod. Today? The number is over 3,700, most of the additions sent in by generous blog readers from around the world. Keep 'em coming....and thanks again!]
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2007
Introduction to this Blog
Hello! My name is Ricky Riccardi and you can learn more about me in the (you guessed it) "About Me" section of this blog. I just wanted to take a second and discuss what this blog is all about. There are tons of Armstrong videos on YouTube and in my Itunes, I have 2,408 Armstrong songs arranged in chronological order. I plan on hitting "shuffle" on my Itunes and whatever Armstrong track comes up first, I will discuss it. I'll provide the musicians, the writers, the soloists, I'll give some analysis of the recording and I'll even tell you where you can buy it or listen to it. On some days, I'll post a YouTube video and do the same. You're more than welcome to comment and offer your own opinions or disagreements to whatever I write. There's really no order to anything, just a (hopefully) daily celebration of Armstrong's music! Enjoy!
****************
That's how this whole madness began. Today, four years later, is my 404th post. I'm celebrating it on a book tour, sitting in a hotel room in Washington D. C., about to make a television appearance in Baltimore. When the tour is over, I will resume my day job as Archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Seriously? This really happened?
It's crazy and pardon me if I still seem a little stunned by it all. Though I'll admit, when I started this blog, that was pretty much the goal: I wanted to form enough of a reputation to be able to publish a book and maybe work at the Louis Armstrong House Museum one day. Fairytales do come true, my friends...
Major thanks to all of you out there who have followed my exploits over the year on this here blog. It's been a complete "gassuh" and I hope to continue doing it til the end of time (and judging by the heat in Washington D. C., that could be this weekend).
I have a train to catch so I'm going to cut this short. But THANK YOU, YOU, and YOU for all the support over the years....Louis Armstrong touched so many people around the world during his time on earth (and afterwards) and it's just beautiful to be able to bask in that love with so many readers from around the planet.
And a quick thank you to the wonderful crowd at Politics and Prose last night, who really made my evening there extra special. And yesterday afternoon, I had a delightful one-hour appearance on Kojo NNamdi's radio show. Thanks to Michael Martinez, Caitlin, Kojo himself and the fantastic callers who made this hour extra memorable. If you'd like to hear it, click here
S'all for now. Thanks for sticking with me for four years....Pops is Tops!
[Update: Four years ago I wrote about having 2,408 songs on my Armstrong Ipod. Today? The number is over 3,700, most of the additions sent in by generous blog readers from around the world. Keep 'em coming....and thanks again!]
Comments
wishing us many happy returns, as your blog is my favorites list.
all the best from a french fan
Louis