Book Review: Time Enough for Love

I recently completed Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein. Time Enough for Love tells the furthering stories of Lazarus Long aka Woodrow Wilson Smith and his continuing life. At this point in the story (4700 AD), Lazarus has been alive 2700 years and done just about everything. As such he wants to end it gracefully in a run down hotel across town. Things don't go so well as the Howard families refuse to let their key piece of genetics and information die and have resolved to try and find things in life to get Lazarus interested again in living, but the real underlying theme is around love is what makes life worth living.

This book is broken into 4 sections that have their own distinctive feel. Part 1 seems to be a lot of pontification by Heinlein as the members of the Howard families attempt to get something new for Lazarus. Here you are introduced to a planet leader who can be as manipulative as they come, a computer in love with said leader, as well as a couple of lonely rejuvenators. They worry about Lazarus. They talk of manipulating him. They speak with him, trying to get him to share many of his stories from his long life.

Part 2 has involves Lazarus telling two stories to the computer, Minerva, about his past loves and trying to explain what love is. I found these sections to be much more enjoyable than his random pontifications. Heinlein is able to create interesting characters in very interesting scenes when he actually sits to tell a story.

Part 3 suddenly appears and takes you forward 5 or 10 years. Here again we find ourselves subject to Heinlein's discussions of group marriages and love again. We hear his ideas on raising children and creating happy healthy family units.

Finally in Part 4, we take a look at Lazarus' past through the eyes of an aged Lazarus and how he gets to meet his first family again but as another person via ways of time travel. This he is able to paint another good story of a person really looking out for his skin so much that he again forgets that life is about living and loving and that he has to rediscover that through his family and the ones he cares about most.

Overall a good book, but dreadfully long and over tedious in places. Recommended to the die hard RAH fan. Everyone else need not apply.

The Magical Age

I think we have reached a very neat age for Miranda. She seems to be comprehending more of what is going on. Cause and effect understanding seems to be getting better (very crucial in making sure that bad behavior is curbed). Plus she is starting to talk. Her language is not easily translated to english so I have lots of trouble understanding her.

So in the last month, we have had a potty use, which is good, but now she doesn't even want to go near it. Our bath times are getting a little easier. She still doesn't like to get her hair wash, but now it is more of anger as opposed to the straight out screaming her head off. She is not kicking the cat now, which I count as a huge win.

Some of the bad is that she has figured out how the TV works (at least turning it on). She still throws food on the floor and we can't take the food away yet as we are still trying to get some more weight on her. We go through daily tantrums over nap and bed. Cleaning is hard as she still won't put things away and loves to haul out what we put away.

So overall, nothing terrible and many things very cool so she is progressing well and we as parents are a little bit calmer than we were before.

Happy Valentines Day

And no, I didn't buy the flowers.

Download the songs of Rock Band

Since I have been playing Rock Band for the xbox 360, I have wanted to download the MP3's so that I can listen to the music and figure out the pitch of the singing or even just learn the songs so it is easier to play. I figured others would care about my work.

But here is the complete list of the ones I could find on Amazon.

• Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"
• "Train Kept a Rollin'™" (Album only download)
• "Won't Get Fooled Again" (not The Who)
• Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
• Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
• The Police "Next to You"
• David Bowie "Suffragette City"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
• Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
• The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
• Deep Purple "Highway Star"
• KISS "Detroit Rock City"
• Molly Hatchet "Flirtin'™ With Disaster"
• The Outlaws "Green Grass and High Tides"
• Sweet "Ballroom Blitz"
• Rush "Tom Sawyer"
• Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• Faith No More "Epic"
• Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
• R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
• Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills"
• Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
• Metallica "Enter Sandman"
• Nirvana "In Bloom"
• Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
• Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
• Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
• Radiohead "Creep"
• Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
• Hole "Celebrity Skin"
• Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
• Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
• The Hives "Main Offender"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
• The Strokes "Reptilia"
• JET "Are You Going To Be My Girl"
• Ok Go! "Here It Goes Again"
• Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers "Dani California"
• Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
• Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
• The Killers "When You Were Young "
• New Pornographers "Electric Version"
• Bang Camaro "Pleasure (Pleasure)"

Update: I had a link to the Amazon Listmania list, but that list just doesn't work. Must be a bug with Amazon Digital orders and Listmania pages or something on that line. Very, very annoying.