Twainfecta's Log: Part I (Munich - Linderhof)

Now that I’m back from Europe and no longer disoriented by European time zones, I can get back to my favorite pre-Europe activity: blogging it up.

Countries: Germany, Austria, Czech Republic
Dates: July 17 – July 28, 2007
Members: 7 Barkers + Sue, Miguel & Josefina, Derek (guide), Alex (driver)

Munich - There's one glaring memory from our 2 days stay here and that is Courteney fainting in the town square in Marienplatz. Luckily she was able to break her fall with her forehead right on the cement sidewalk. One of the most painful things I've ever witnessed. Fortunately, she ended up OK and may even have some recollection of the rest of the trip. We also saw BMW headquarters and the Olympic Stadium.

Went on a lovely drive up the Bavarian Alps where we stopped in Oberamergau and had possibly the worst meal of my life. 4 courses. Started with Vegetable soup (predominantly spinach I think), then vinegar-cured vegetables, then some sort of roasted lamb that was so salty it reminded me of the times I mistook the salt for the sugar when piling it on my cereal. This is where Crato learned the "No thank you. Thank you." phrase with the accompanying hand gestures. It would come in handy throughout the rest of the trip. We also spotted a fly in one of the drinks so the waitress took it in the back room, spooned out the fly, and then returned the glass. My dad assured us this is not the typical German dining experience.

From Oberamergau we continued on to the Linderhof Castle, the hideaway summer palace of Mad King Ludwig. Here we got to walk through the floral tunnels (a la Secret Garden movie), and cool down in Ludwig's domesticated cave where he chilled in his little pond boat and listened to Wagner symphonies.

When Worlds Collide

*The race for the inside scoop

Last week I made a trip out to San Diego to spend some quality time with Trifecta. Our adventures included: Red Sox @ Padres (Matsuzaka vs. Maddux), eating at Ruby's, competing on the Nintendo DS's, 2-on-2 water basketball, softball, analog 'Catch Phrase', watching 'Hellboy', and trying to download lots of music before my flight but the computer saying, "Time Remaining: 5:15:42:23". Pretty much what you'd expect from a meeting of the blogosphere masterminds.

Sadly, the Nelson's are moving out of the Poway house on Crestwood. This meant we had to leave no trace of human life every time we left the house--something I've grown accustomed to since my parents are also selling our house and we have to go to such extremes as hiding the trash can when someone is coming to look at the house. We have had some great times there and it will be sad to see it go. Some fond Crestwood memories:

• Go-Karts
• Street Hockey (but do NOT let the ball roll down the hill)
• The "Bonus Room" (only the Lambert "Game Room" can compete for the best-title-for-a-room award)
• The rod-throwing contest
• "One Command" (When Blake got simultaneous commands from Ron & Ellen)
• Wimbledon. Barbara Walters interviews
• Mrs. Bogus, Kramer
• The ever smaller roll
• Stereo while you shower

I've uploaded a video series entitled 'Drunk Padres Fan' which showcases one of the highlights of the trip.

Drunk Padres Fan: 7th Inning
Drunk Padres Fan: 8th Inning
Drunk Padres Fan: 9th Inning

Bonus Footage - By Popular Demand

Pace Barker: Not Bruce Bowen

Pace Barker: Not Bruce Bowen from pace barker on Vimeo

This should set the record straight once and for all. This clip clearly shows that my opponent's injury was caused by his own doing. I may be a pesky defender, but never dirty.

Trifecta Video Series: Episode 1

Age Does Not Matter from pace barker on Vimeo

This is the 1st in a series of videos featuring Trifecta. This video is titled, 'Age Does Not Matter', taken in Courteney & Mely's apartment in Newport. Trifecta & Mely were locked in a heated debate regarding the importance of a person's age and their abilities. You be the judge on who won this argument.

PS3 v. Xbox 360 v. Nintendo Wii

*Picture not to scale

I realize that my review on the latest series of new gaming systems might seem a little late but now that each console has had a chance to stabilize, and get some games to back it up, and now that you can actually find and purchase the various systems, I think now is as good a time as any to review and compare the competing models.

Playstation 3: The sexiest of its class. You could almost justify shelling out the $600 for the Play-trois just for the aesthetical value it will bring to your room. Not to mention, a Sony/Samsung/Panasonic Blu-Ray disc player with specs essentially identical to those of the PS3’s is likely to run for somewhere between $800 and $1000. Free access to the online network as opposed to $50/year for a slightly superior online community with the Xbox 360 is good, I guess, but the real deterrent seems to be the fact that game manufacturers haven’t kept pace with the Sony system itself by providing us with games that really showcase the PS3’s capabilities, and in the cases in which they have, it has only been through games that aren’t especially fun—war games and the like. The PS3 is purportedly much quieter and runs cooler than its 360 counterpart and generates power from a single cord (no unwieldy 360 behemoth power brick). The SixAxis controller with tilt capabilities in select games is a nice bonus, but still does not measure up to the Wii’s motion-sensitive interface.

Xbox 360 Elite: You have to go with the Elite if you are in the Xbox camp. Only an $80 premium ($480) and it comes equipped with an HDMI connector and a hard drive upgrade from 20GB to 120GB. The big plus for the 360 is its extensive library of hi-def games. EA’s next-generation-graphics version of FIFA ’07, for example, has a 12-month exclusivity agreement with Microsoft. And the 360 version of Guitar Hero II checks out (I was always bothered that the Xbox version of Dance Dance Revolution plays so differently than the Playstation version). HD DVD’s (similar to Blu-Ray DVD’s, though slightly inferior) can be played on the 360 but only with the purchase of an external HD DVD player which runs for about $200 [frowny face]. But as I mentioned earlier, the 360 offers a portal to a stellar online network and an expansive media hub. Here you can buy TV episodes in hi-def, and rent HD movies (2 weeks, $5-$10), and even download original arcade games in high resolution (e.g. Street Fighter II). This brings us to the heated debate (which my colleague, Trifecta, so eloquently presented in a previous post) of ‘Physical HD versus Digital HD: Which way is the market headed?’. Being, as it is, a Microsoft product, the Xbox 360 doesn’t seem to make any efforts to cooperate with macs. If you’re a PC guy you can wirelessly stream your computer content to the console and play movies/music/slideshows on your TV (a la Apple TV). For me, the big Ace in the hole the Xbox 360 has is that I have friends that own it. If I “join in” as the commercials have instructed, I could instantly be competing or cooperating with a proverbial ‘friend in Vietnam’.

Nintendo Wii: Innocent, clean, YSA enjoyment right out of the box; all for only $250. Where the 360 and the PS3 promote lethargy with their everything-remote system, the Wii requires constant interaction through oft intense hand and arm motions. Wii Sports sounds like a blast but other than that, I don’t see too many titillating titles except for maybe Zelda. I fear that the novelty of this unique console could wear off really fast, but maybe I’m wrong. One big plus, however, is the Virtual Console offered through the Wii Shop Channel. This is the place to go to buy replicated versions of classic NES, Super Nintendo, and N64 games. By simply turning your Wiimote sideways you are ready to knock out Soda Popinski in Mike Tyson’s Punchout or crank a dinger off of B. Sbrhgn in R.B.I. Baseball II. This would be an immediate fix to my brother’s and my NES woes since someone recently sabotaged our player 2 controller and effectively rendered the whole system worthless (we’re now relegated to watching the computer play against itself, and poorly at that—worthless Boggs groundouts become triples in computer play). I’m disappointed that only a select few games offer an online multiplayer option; even the DS Lite allows for Wi-Fi multiplayer on most all of its titles. And the online Wii channels are pretty lame. They offer AP news updates and weekly weather forecasts, but who wants to get their news from Nintendo? I can just picture it: “In today’s news, Luigi is released from prison after his 8-year sentence and Princess is enjoying her stay in the Koopa Beach Promises rehab center”.

So what’s my recommendation? I think the only feasible solution is to buy all three systems. PS3 for the Blu-Ray and the tech specs, Xbox 360 for the library of games and the fantastic online network, and the Wii because you can’t afford not to, and it’s so small and cute.

Admittedly, I’m getting pretty close to buying the Xbox 360 Elite but I’m curious to see what my readers have to say so please, chime in on the ‘Comments’ link below.