You're going to want to have your podcatcher primed and ready for UWA #54, that's all I'm sayin' folks.

Barack Obama's comment about the need for "aggressive diplomacy" with Iran reminded me of an Anakin Skywalker line, which led to a little audio collage that also incorporates The Prisoner and that other guy running for Big Guy this year.

Other features of this 53rd trip to the Attic: Two versions of "I'm a Monster" by the inimitable Scotty MacGregor ... The memorable "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think" from the lost Dylan Hears A Who project ... "That's Cool" by Adam and the Couch Potatoes ... and a big announcement about upcoming episodes.

I've been doing some musing of late about how to reboot my various creative efforts to improve the quality and consistency. The problem is not in your set. I hope to be completing the muse process in the very near future and bear some fruit.

Thank you for your patience, and feel free to browse to make sure you've sampled the entire set of 53 trips to the attic, starting from Day One — not to mention the semi-classic episodes of The Imaginary Bomb that started my podcasting career.

Meanwhile, please stand by.

Even if I'm a couple of days late for Independence Day, I have to read from the Declaration and play the Hurtado Brothers Royal Marimba Band version of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," don't I? I mean, it's tradition! Also within this slightly longer trip to the Attic are a couple of tunes by Red Ingle and his Natural Seven and the complete and unabridged Rusty in Orchestraville, one very interesting adventure. Oh, and there's a little Spike Jones in there, too.

What made me hesitate: eulogies to my friend kyfho and to Danny Federici, as we return to the Attic at last. Highlights include:

"Hold On To Your Freedom" from Jennifer Avalon ... quite a few clips from Firefly and Serenity among other memorable movie moments ... "Don't Let Us Get Sick" by Warren Zevon via the Internet Archive ... old ads for Rheingold beer and Good N Plenty ... "What Have You Got That Gets Me" from the Bob Crosby Orchestra with Marion Mann ... another Animal Story ... and "Undecided" by The Ames Brothers.

And I add this in memory of kyfho:

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

Yeah, yeah, I know, get up to the Attic, w.p., all that stuff is piling up and you haven't been sorting through it much lately. Spring cleaning reminds you about the accumulation of stuff like nobody's business.

There'll be a touch of sadness in this episode, as I'm going to devote a little time to the memory of a friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago — not to mention Danny Federici. But I found some fun stuff to remember them by, so you won't have to wear black to this gathering.

Maybe I take too much time putting these little adventures together, maybe I don't work on them fast enough, but I enjoy the finished product, and I hope you do, too. I just wish I could finish a little more frequently. Oh well, it's always fun or else they wouldn't get finished. Watch this space.

A long time ago in a state far, far away, I somehow encountered a fellow teenager named Wally Conger, who like me was a comic book fan. Oddly, we became friends, odd because we never met (to this day!), he was a Californian and I was a New Jersey kid. There's something in our makeup that overcomes that little 3,000-mile gap (now more like 2,000 since I've become a converted Badger). He published fanzines, one of which was called Fantasy World and featured superhero and science-fiction stories. I contributed tales of a guy I named H-Man.

I mentioned FW and H-Man when I put Wally in touch with the world of Myke Phoenix, and he understood completely judging from the review he posted this week. Thanks Wally!

THE BIG 5-OH ... Oh boy ... 50 trips up to the Attic ... who woulda thunk. I'm rushing this up online and then taking off for a Saturday night date with Red — talk amongst yourselves and I'll be back with the show notes at a later date ...

UPDATE — OK, here we go. First, an authentic no-prize to the first person to name the five sources of the audio in my "explosive" introduction to the show. Hint: Four are movies.

As the show moves along, highlights include ads from Schaffer Beer, Doublemint gum, Mr. Clean and the new 1958 Edsel. The musical numbers:
+ Teddy Boy Stomp - The Buggs
+ I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the YMCA - Lambert Murphy with Orpheus Quartet
+ Who Could Be More Wonderful Than You - Aileen Stanley and Billy Murray
+ Always Love You - w.p. bluhm
+ Good Vibrations - James Gadson
+ Stardust on the Moon - Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra
+ We Go Well Together - Cab Calloway and his Orchestra

Thanks for coming along for 50 episodes, and hang in for the next round of 50! Oh yeah, and about that other project I mention in this show: Check this out.