I was sitting in McDonald’s over lunch, reading Bill Drummond’s 45. I was on the chapter “From the Shores of Lake Placid,” his recollections on the Liverpool music scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s, particularly as relating to his time as the manager of Echo & the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes.

As I was finishing the chapter, getting to the point where Drummond alludes to what would become of the bands as they moved out of their pre-determined 5 year windows of brilliance, “Get the Message” by Electronic began playing over the in-house music.

Like I said, I’m sure that has to mean something. Maybe I already know.

We also managed to catch a few of the Bellagio’s fountain shows, which are still good even with a Lee Greenwood soundtrack.

The Illuminatis Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson - I’ve been meaning to reread this. It’s been 11 years.

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien - I also read this in 1998, but unlike with the previous book, whoever I loaned it to never returned it. I just found a copy in the $1 bin at Border’s last week.

Both of those books blew my 20-year-old mind, so I’m excited to see how they affect me now.

45 by Bill Drummond - I can’t reread this enough. Great for when you’ll be reading in small doses.

Astro Boy vol 1 & 2 - I’ve been reading Pluto and the Astro Boy movie adaptation, so I thought I’d check out the original source material.

The bugs have been kind of bad ever since Winston killed our garden-patrolling garter snake.