Barcelona - Why did I leave Thee?

Partly cloudy. That was the consensus of the weather prognosticators for the weekend in Barcelona. Apparently, for the fortunate denizens of this fair city on the coast of the salty Mediterranean, partly cloudy means a completely clear sky in the morning and a few whispy clouds lazily drifting about in the afternoon. Yes, it was a glorious weekend in Barcelona.



First off, the pics. Click on the link on the right hand side of the page to go to My Picassa Web Album. The pics are all there. La Sagrada Familia has changed significantly since my last visit to Barcelona 7 years ago. All the clean stone wasn't up at that point. Also, the little chapel area with the excellent stained glass wasn't open then either. I also got to visit Parc Guell, which I missed last time. Its located on a rather imposing hill and offered some spectacular views of the city. I was loving my 10X optical zoom as I got some 'close ups' of the castle (Palau Nacional) on Plaza de Espana and La Sagrada Familia while several kilometers away..


I arrived early Friday evening and my buddy Bryan who lives in London joined me shortly thereafter. Our hostel, well kind of hostel, more like a hotel/hostel. Bryan claimed that he was 'getting to old' to bunk up in a dorm with 10 other people, so we settled for a place that had private rooms with two beds and a private bathroom. All in all, probably a good call, as sleeping was a fair bit easier than in other hostels I've been in. Right, where was I? Ah yes, our hostel was right off Las Ramblas - the main tourist drag with a multitude of over-priced hawkers of silly shit and mediocre food at exorbitant prices. But, its still a pretty cool street to walk down. So, we took a bit of a stroll around the town, got lost a little bit in the small winding streets littered with shops and restaurants, and basically just kept on commenting to ourselves: "Damn, its perfect here." While I've been fairly blessed with nice weather in Erlangen, Bryan lives in London - I think he appreciated the weather a bit more than me. But, the lack of clouds also became a bit of a bane to his existence as well, dude is pale. We grabbed some tapas at a couple of different places, but honestly we were much too close to Las Ramblas for them to be that good, but still, a hell of a lot better than most English fare.

We eventually ended up heading to an area know as El Born. We immediately recognized our mistake in our choice of dining establishments as the food and atmosphere were far superior in this area compared to what we had just experienced. Regardless, we made the best of it by visiting a couple of different bars and enjoying the night. We also hit up a club for a bit, and yes it was a proper club, as was evidenced by the weak 10 Euro Jack and Cokes. The music was crap and we were getting a bit bored, and Bryan wouldn't give in to my constant ribbing to go talk to some girls. He claimed there was a 'language barrier' - ok, so he doesn't speak Spanish, but come on, most of the girls in the club would speak English. I of course then, had no excuse, I had to go chat some girl up, and in Spanish, you know, just to keep up my cred. So, I did. I'm not saying it was the smoothest opening I've ever executed, but, it was my first attempt in a different language. I deserve some slack. I believe it went somewhat along the lines of 'I know the music is lousy, but I think you're pretty, and so I would like to know if you would dance with me.' Yeah, that's about the best I could do. We ended up talking with her and some of her crew for a bit, but yeah, nothing doing there. She used the lousy music as an excuse not to dance - which I can't fault, as often, if I don't like a song, I just stand in the middle of the dance floor with my arms across my chest, pouting, in protest.

Hmm, I apparently need an editor, that was much to long for one evening. Speeding things along...

Saturday, woke up about 11, more tapas for brunch, walk towards Parc Guell, pass a couple of Gaudi's most famous houses, continue walking to Parc Guell (it was about 6 klicks I think). Wait, what am I saying. That's not what happened. First we went to the beach. Ah yes, la playa. That was only about a 2.5 km walk, and it was mostly along the harbor, and I kept on saying, 'Damn, that's a big boat.' So first, I love water, whatever city I go to, I always have to go to the water (this led to me walking 8 km to the Danube and then back in Wien). So, of course on a crystal clear day, we going to the beach. Bryan made fun of me for wearing my sarong, but I think I look sexy in a skirt. And its nice and cool. So yes, the beach. I had read that the beach closest to us was Barcelona's only 'naturist' beach. Hmm, wonder what that could mean. We shortly found out. All in all, in what a perfect day there. Vendors walk around selling ice cold beers out of their bags for 2 Euro (and apparently Hashish as well - but I declined the offer - although I did thank him for asking - it was very considerate - although I'm sure if I had, it would have been rubish anyway). And yes, I will agree with the conventional wisdom that after a very short while, the fact that its a nude beach doesn't mean anything. Although, in the area we were in, it was just the ladies who did away with part of their clothing, so I can't say of CW holds true for me for a full nude beach. Oh, and did I mention that even my skinny ass is buoyant in the Mediterranean? That's just weird.



Right, so then we walked for a long time to get to Parc Guell - took lots of pictures - started walking back. Stopped for some beers and olives. Hmm, after the cured ham, and the mussels, olives might have been my favorite tapas. Sooooo tasty, and with little tiny, baby onions and pickles - oh and this was at 21:00 and there was no one in this bar - I was loving the late dinner style. We then found ourselves a proper tapas bar. We gorged ourselves. The table wasn't big enough for all the tapas and sangria. Definitely one of the best meals I've had. And well, the hunger built up from 16 or so km may have contributed. As we left the place at about 23:45, they were still setting up places for new customers. We were spent, so we just hit up a spot for a quick beer and then crashed.


Sunday involved more walking to La Sagrada Familia, a metro ride to Plaza de Espana, and then of course, another trip to the beach. Bryan was getting to be a bit of a lobster due to the sun (at this point I'd like to thank my Croatian ancestors for passing their Mediterranean type complexion down to me), so we went for a bit of shade at one of the beach front bars and had some absolutely delicious mojitos (I will slap the next person who makes me a mojito with refined sugar instead of cane sugar) and a wide assortment of tapas (and yes, olives featured prominently again). Bryan flew out on Sunday evening, so, that was about it for the evening. I saw him off and then returned to my new hostel (one of the 12 bed in a room varieties). I walked around the area a bit more, popped into a couple of places for a beer and a tapas or two, then went back to the hostel to see if the US vs. Mexico final of the Gold Cup was on at 23:00 (yes - I was going to watch a soccer match in Barcelona - and yes you can start making fun of me now). But, it wasn't on - and despite my mind telling me I should go explore more, I'm turning into an old man and I was tired - and I had to get up at 7 am for my morning flight. So, I just hung around the hostel talking with various folks, which is always fun.

So, that's it. That's my Barcelona weekend in compressed (well - not all that compressed) format. Next weekend I'm off to Berlin to meet my friend Lucas for some good times.

Education and Sacrifice, Part 1 of ?

Warning, this will be a long, long, long post. But I hope that you will read it, as in it, I will address what I feel are the major pratfalls facing our society (Wisconsin in particular as that's the situation I know most about) and what I think needs to be done to fix it. This is a long time coming, but, given the recent front page article on CNN, concerning the alarming exodus of faculty from UW-Madison to not just Ivy League institutions, but now to universities traditionally below us on the totem poll, I feel the time is ripe for a frank assessment of the problems facing us, and what can be done.

The reason that UW-Madison, the state of Wisconsin, and the U.S. face problems ranging from sky-rocketing education costs, to inadequate and excessively expensive health care, to continued exacerbation of climate change in the face of irrefutable evidence is that our election system is fundamentally flawed. Too many of our 'elected' representatives are beholden no longer to the people but rather to those who finance their reelection. A bone may be tossed to the masses every once in a while, but it can not be argued that the best interests of the constituents, the state (or country), and humanity are not served in our current system. My thesis is that the public financing of all elections (given some small showing of actual community support for the candidates) will result in a lower overall tax burden while simultaneously resulting policies that result in actions that are in the best interests of society.

To achieve this, a short-term sacrifice is required of not only the people, but also those in power. They must put at risk the comfortable and safe position that they hold being financed by special interests. This 'sacrifice' must in most cases be imposed upon the politician by the people by a massive uprising demanding change. The question then arises, who shall rally the people in this massive call for change? That I do not know. Caution, and the inability to ask their constituents to sacrifice now for a greater reward for themselves and their progeny seem to be abilities that are gradually ground out of politicians. Perhaps here, a lesson may be learned from the earthly sacrifices asked of those of a religious persuasion with the promise of a greater reward in the next life. Regardless, each day that goes by without the people and their 'representatives' accepting a small level of short term hardship, the hardship that we all must endure in time grows greater and greater.

Allow me to use as an example the current situation at UW-Madison. These are the facts. Madison's in state undergraduate tuition is the 2nd lowest in the Big Ten. Madison's tenured faculty rank near or at the bottom in compensation in UW's peer group. A new fee, doubling the previous fee, has recently been introduced for the employment of graduate research and project assistants. Many faculty state that the outstanding graduate assistants is the major draw of UW-Madison. Fewer graduate assistants can now be hired due to the new fee. Graduate students teach around 30% of all undergraduate credit hours. State funding of UW-Madison is at the same dollar level (not adjusted for inflation) that it was 10 years ago. Undergraduates are exiting their college experience with the greatest debt burden ever. A diverse, educated populous is needed to attract businesses to the state. UW-Madison faculty are flocking to other universities at an unprecedented rate.

To me the solution is simple. The state must fund the university at a higher level to increase faculty salary, lower tuition (yes further lower from the 2nd lowest in the Big ten), invest in clean energy (for a little background on this, check out this article on the pollution spewing from the EPA complaints against one of the UW's power plants), and take the lead on issues such as a living wage for all employees, divestment from countries with abysmal labor and human rights records, and contracting only with companies that respect workers right.

To achieve these goals, I prescribe the following course of action. 1. A significant increase in state funding to the UW system - financed by an increase in taxes of high income households, closing corporate tax loopholes, and increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco. These increase can be gradual,, for instance to retain companies until the increased tax burden is offset by a more attractive pool of workers. Income tax increases can also be offset by further subsidies for the implementation of green energy policies. The fact is, the state must collect more taxes to provide not only this generation, but generations to come with an adequate quality of life. 2. The increase of faculty salaries, the lowering of tuition, and an increase in graduate assistant salaries to ensure that top researchers come to and stay at UW-Madison. This small investment will reap significant rewards in the form of federal research funding, tax revenue from start-up companies, and an increase in businesses in the state due to an improved workforce pool. 3. Reinvestment in the state and the country. UW must ensure that with this improved funding, they act as a steward for the state by investing in research that will improve the quality of life of the state's citizens. 4. Educate the populace about the positive repercussions of a world-class institution being located in the state (this also must really be done before point #1 to make it politically feasible in the current climate).

For this issue, and for so many more, we need leadership from our elected representatives, our community and business leaders, and the populace. We must, we must, step back from the ease in which we slip into apathy and stand together and demand that our interests and the interests of our children and our children's children are protected.

This course of action is akin to preventive medicine. We MUST take action now or face a much more dire situation in the future. This applies not only to the situation at UW-Madison, but also to healthcare, K-12 education, continuing education, energy and environmental policies, and a litany of other examples. The system is broken. Shall we continue taking water from the well in a bucket with a leak in the bottom to put out the fire, or shall we allow the flames to burn brighter for a short time knowing that the time we take to plug the holes will allow us to put the fire out rather than merely keep it in check?

I ask each and everyone of you to take leadership in this task. Wherever you live, the story is playing out the same way for your university, for your K-12 system, for your healthcare system, for your environment. Contact your representatives. Demand a change to public financing of elections. Demand that they protect our future by investing in renewable energies and taxing polluters. Demand that they provide health care for all and emphasize preventive medicine to avoid greater costs down the road. Demand that they invest in an education system that doesn't teach to a test, but rather teaches critical thinking, social skills, and a variety of subjects to ensure that our children are able to do more than recite facts and figures. Demand that they respond to you! You hold the power. Embrace it, use it, demand accountability, reject apathy, embrace a better tomorrow today.

Salzburg trip and an update on taxes

Thanks to Mike, and the wonderful software the Lucas is working on, I discovered FactCheck.org's excellent analysis of the "Fair Tax". This is relevant, as some of you may recall my posting on taxes last month (although I imagine most of you skipped that one). In it, I wrote about my desire for the U.S. to increase the sales tax, start taxing services (like lawyers and financial consultants) and to give further tax credits for renewable energy use, and stop subsidizing a lot of different areas. This would allow a decrease in the income tax rate, and by exempting basic consumables, would amount to a progressive tax. The "Fair Tax," often bandied about by conservatives, would eliminate income and social security taxes and attempt to collect all revenue from sales taxes. This approach would be egregiously regressive, as low income families spend a greater percentage of their income on consumables than do richer families. So, not fair at all, I suggest you check it out.


Last weekend I was in Salzburg, which I think has become the favorite city I've visited on this trip (oh and you can see all my pics from there on my web album. However, it will not hold that title for long, as I venture off to Barcelona in about two weeks, and then off to Rome in July.

It wasn't a perfect day in Salzburg, a bit overcast and some occasional sprinkles, but I was OK with that, it kept me nice and cool as I hiked up the mountain to the Festung Hohenzalzburg, the giant fortress in the pictures that construction began on in 1077. Many of the pictures in the album are either of the fortress or from it. Aside from the fortress, the wonderful architecture, being the birthplace of some dude named Mozart, and The Palace of Mirabel (where all the flower pics are from), Salzburg also gets a ton of tourists due to its prominent roll in The Sound of Music. There were a ton of tours offered to take one around to the sights from the movie. Having been scared at an early age by my mother's love (and what seemed like weekly consumption) of the film, I was unable to partake in the tour. I fear I may have ended up in a paroxysm of seizures. And yes, I have grown to appreciate the film a little bit over time (particularly Christopher Plummer's role), but I'm not ready to embrace it yet (I think that has to do with my loathing of Julie Andrews).

So, I just walked around the city, took lots of pictures, and had a nice time making fun of the other American tourists. As a solitary traveler sans fanny pack, I am not easily identifiable as an American or a tourist at all for that matter. In fact, my favorite part of the trip was when I went into a shop to buy some Mozart Balls (some kind of chocolate candy with pistachio in it), and I said in response to the shop keeper's queries that my German was not so good. She responded, "Ah, Italiano?" I then smiled, and sheepishly admitted that I was an English speaker. So, thank you Eastern European ancestors (that'd be you great-grandpa and great-grandma Zupancic) for allowing me to pass as Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Jewish - I love being a chameleon.

Not much else of interest to note. I went back to the hostel, was doing some reading, chatting a bit with some folks, when I was pulled into an enjoyable conversation on literature, philosophy and religion after one of the girls at the table was shocked to see that I was reading Ulysses for pleasure. Now, the quintessential description of James Joyce's Ulysses is that its a book that's more talked about than read. I quickly grew to understand the truth of that description, as it is a very difficult read. However, I knew that going in and chose it precisely for that reason. I knew I wouldn't have access to a library with books in English here, and I also know that especially when traveling, I zoom through novels. Case in point, I bought Bret Easton Ellis' latest Lunar Park, for the trip to Vienna - just a four hour train ride. But of course, with the train ride down there, and a little free time in Vienna, I was left with nothing to read for the return journey. So, I brought along Ulysses because its long, and I knew that its 'interesting' style would force me to read slowly and for short periods only. Now, bringing along something like The Brothers K or War and Peace would have given me something long to read. But I also would have been reading them compulsively - as I consider them spectacular and great fun to read. So, they would have lasted two weeks top. It all makes sense now, doesn't it?

So, that's my Salzburg trip. Next stop, Barcelona.

A weekend at the Berg

This weekend (and yes I think I will now officially start considering Thursday evening part of the weekend), the glorious, unmatched, beer-fueled fun fest known as the Bergkirchweih began here in Erlangen. I didn't bring my camera to any of our numerous outings there, but thanks to a website which translates to 'Pictures of the Night' (where I've been featured before after the infamous karaoke night which resulted in my bra collection increasing in number by 1).

Its kind of like Summerfest, only with excellent beer at reasonable prices (7 Euro for a liter), no fat people in spandex, better food, and more fun. Also, copious numbers of Germans in lederhosen. Raf and Eric arrived from the Medical Physics conference in Berlin on Friday, so we immediately set of for the Berg, which is conveniently located about a mile from my apartment. I was in awe. Not only was the beer spectacular, but despite the teeming masses, there was no pushing, no fighting, because life is good when you have a liter of beer in your hand, surrounded by friends and have decent bands covering all the feel good songs you ever want to hear. So, we met up with some of Bjorn's and Ada's (hmm, maybe I haven't introduced her - she's Bjorn's girlfriend). There was lots of dancing on tables, I prevented many falls by one fortunate soul who had been there since 1pm, whom I was also able to converse fairly fluently in Spanish with. Someone needs to do a study on the relationship between foreign language skills and consumption of alcohol. I peaked at about 2 liters.

The Berg closed at 11, so after that, it was of course time for the clubs. A couple of us wanted to continue the dancing, so we set off for a club while the others stayed at a bar. I was convinced that I would not be allowed in as by this time I was down to just my beach shoes (which resulted in GIANT blisters the next day), shorts, and an A-shirt (my t-shirt having fallen to the ground after laying it on some railing and then subsequently apparently used as a convenient deposit for someone's snot - a nice surprise). The girls assured me I would be allowed in. Of course, I wasn't. So, we walked back to the bar. By the way, not only can you drink beer in the streets here, but during the Berg, all the bars set up windows or stands so you don't have to go inside to get a beer, so you have at least 500 people hanging out outside the bar. We did manage to get a little dancing in at the bar, and after an ill-advised rum, headed home to wind down the night sitting outside, listening to music, and nursing beers. All and all, an excellent start to the weekend.

Saturday included a near perfect BBQ, the arrival of Jim and Shannon from the conference in Berlin (unfortunately right as the German Soccer Championship match was occurring - featuring the nearest top level club, Nurnberg, who won). But I didn't see the game, instead we went off to the Berg again. It was more low key than Friday, but still a very good time. I dropped Jim and Shannon off at the apartment and rendezvoused with the soccer revelers. I was generally derided when I chose to end the evening at 2am. But, in my defense, the bar we were in sucked, and I was tired. I guess I could have manned up, but I didn't.

And I'm glad I didn't, because then, there's no way I could have stayed out dancing at a club until 4 am on Sunday. Its all a give and take. So yes, the night began at the Berg again, after eating some of Raf's gumbo and leftover BBQ food. We explored the fair area of the Berg more, a fun house was visited, and beer drank. At closing time, it was off to a pub to rendezvous with the girls who had been in the 'funner' area of the Berg where all the bands and dancing are. From there, Raf, Ada, myself and Katrin (the Spanish-speaking occasional table-faller-offer from Friday night) went to E-Werk, a massive club. The first room was playing much to much techno music, so we went upstairs were there was some moshing going on. I stayed on the outskirts longing for hip-hop. We eventually went back downstairs where the music had improved, not ideal, but at leas with the mix of techno and old school dance-pop tunes, I didn't tire myself out as I do with hip-hop. Around 2 am, I noticed water dripping on me from the ceiling. I was originally thinking, oh, that's not a bad idea, just a little shower action to cool us all down. Shortly thereafter, I realized, no, its not a good idea, its sweat that has evaporated, condensed on the ceiling, and then dripping back down. Eck. Of course, it didn't matter much as my shirt was completely soaked anyway. So yeah, dancing fun till 4 am and then a nice 12pm wakeup on Monday. All in all, a great weekend.

I'll hit up the Berg again on Thursday and Friday, and then I'm off to Salzburg and then the German Alps on Saturday and Sunday. Here are a couple of other pictures from the Berg.

Tales and Pictures from Vienna

I've just returned from Vienna (really, its Wien, but for some reason that I don't really understand, we don't call lots of countries or cities the names they actually have in the local language; why do we call it Germany and not Deutschland - I think we should call a place its name in the local tongue). Good times were had. I walked around a lot, met some cool people, took lots of pictures. That's the gist of it. You can see all of the photos I took here. If you are so inclined, you can read on for my accounts of what went on with some pictures interspersed (I wish I had something really, really exciting to recount to get you to read on, but I don't - I could have gone clubbing with a bunch of Italians last night, and maybe that would have led to some good stories, but I was tired and whimped out).

Actually, on second thought, I'm not going to write anymore. I just played some soccer, and I don't have any excellent stories to regale you with, so just enjoy the pictures. On tap for me this week is research (the purported reason I am here) and the Bergkirchweigh, the giant beer festival. I'll have three fellow Madisonian Medical Physicists crashing on my floor (as they are over here for a conference. The next weekend, I plan to visit Salzburg and the area of Germany where The Eagle's Nest, Hitler's 50th birthday present, is. Its in an area of the German Alps called Berchtesgaden, and is gorgeous. Other than that, I've got a trip to Barcelona booked for the weekend of June 22nd, and I'm working on a trip to Rome in July.

Taxes

Yes, I've been on a crazy posting spree lately; don't complain, I know you love it. But this time, I must disappoint those of you looking for stories akin to the one in which I get a bra thrown to me whilst singing karaoke. Instead, its time for more of my political philosophizing. Today's topic is taxes.

So, throughout most of the States, you see sales taxes of around 5 to 7%. Here in Germany, sales taxes are 19%. I think that's just about where our sales taxes should be. Consumption of goods is an equitable way to tax the people, as long as basic foodstuffs are available at reduced or no tax. Taxing the consumption of goods, energy usage, cigarettes, booze, gasoline, non-defense lawyers, capital gains, inheritance, and financial planners is a way to equitably tax those who have the money to spend and reduce the tax burden on folks who don't earn as much.

By taxing the above list of items, and offering significant credits for use of renewable energies, investment in education, etc. we could reduce the income tax and ease the financial hardships faced by many families while increasing the revenue to the gov't for use on projects such as a proper rail system and universal health care.

So yeah, let's do that. Again, I'm sure this will not sit well with some folks and when it comes time for me to run for political office, this may provide some ammunition for my opponents. Fine, I look forward to defending this idea and my plan for a substantially subsidized public transportation system. Also, I think we need to cut back on subsidies of milk and encourage the eating of buffalo meat instead of cattle meat. On the cattle tip, first of all, its only a recent evolutionary development that allows adult humans to metabolize lactose. We don't actually need it, we can get plenty of calcium from other food sources. And as for buffalo, not only does it in my opinion taste better than beef, but buffalo are the natural grazers for in the states and are able to graze in areas with coarser vegetation. One of these days I'll link to some decent articles about these topics.

Right, that's it for now.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mom's Day Mom!

So we arrive today at one of the two Hallmark holidays I'm actually OK with, Mother's Day (you figure out what the other one is). It ain't often enough that many of share our love for our folks with them (especially guys - society tells us the expression of emotion is not manly and it takes a bit of deprogramming to get passed that). So, I guess I'm OK with holidays that remind us all that our parents are owed some love from us for everything they've done and continue to do for us.

So, a special (hmm I almost wrote shout-out here, but then I realized that would just be stupid, we need a new colloquialism to replace shout out - how about "sky writing?") sky writing goes out to my folks for all the support and love and affection they've given me over the years. I think this is also a good time for us all to also thank all the other folks who have provided us with important support and guidance - whether it be that special friend, a mentor, etc.

But, back to the parents tip... Mom, Dad, I don't know how you guys did it, but you've raised me so well that my only flaw is a glaring lack of humility :) You found the perfect balance of encouraging me to learn and explore society's conventional beliefs while also striking the perfect balance of encouraging me to question those very learnings and find my own way. I can't think of many parents who would first require that I attend all Catholicism classes (which was great fun for me by the way - that was the one area where I could really have some fun with the teachers, oh how they couldn't stand me) and then accept it when I declared my intention to not get confirmed. You should a faith in me then that few parents would show in an obnoxious teenager, and you continued to show that faith in my decision making abilities when I quite grad school years later. You've both done a great job helping me to look more closely and evaluate the choices that I make while not being overbearing or restrictive.

For all of that, and so much more, I thank you and send my love and appreciation from Germany back across the Atlantic to ya'll. Love, your globe-trotting son, Mark (ah, that's my one regret, I kinda wish I was Marcus instead of Mark, ah well, I guess I can live with that one complaint).

So, remember everyone, show your folks, and the folks-like-figures in your lives some love.