王平建事件

又一單以訛傳訛的網聞：早一陣子在FB見到人人鬧爆一位王平建，皆因這位祖國政協委員在會上發言：不要鼓勵農村的孩子去上大學，網聞還提及其他王平建貶低農村學生的言論。幸好有人查證，算是平反了此君的名聲：首先，名字是攪錯了，王委員實名為王平；其次，她對她這個主張作出了更深入的分析：農村學生入城讀完大學，就業不容易，亦要面對高房價的問題，反不如留在農村。如果一味指農村人進城才叫幸福，實在有點誤導。其實她的講法也不無道理, 這是王平接受南方都市報訪問的節錄：

王平：先实践过，你再去读书就有目的，就有的放矢。比如说，你了解到你的专业和特长以后，你不就知道该去补什么了吗？我们现在闭着眼睛去读大学，而且整个教学方法都是向钱看——老师看钱，学生也看钱。浪费了时间，浪费了青春。所以，我认为不应该鼓励农村孩子都去念大学，告诉他们什么现在读大学，你们以后就会和别人平等了，你们就得到了一切。我认为这是骗了人家。

南都：可是很多农村孩子，都指望进城用知识改变命运啊。

王平：我也听到了一些说法，有的说“我农村的好不容易有个希望进城，你还不让我来”。我想说你不知道，现在整个社会是金钱社会，我们没有一个价值的核心，到底人应该追求什么？在中国的传统文化里面，三百六十行，行行出状元。有些领导人不也是先从农村锻炼出来的吗？依我说，干吗要这样子，把所有的农村孩子，都诱惑到大学这条独木桥上来？

我们现在提城镇化，好像城市越大越好。但也不想想，农村年轻人进城了，小孩、父母都丢在那边呢，家庭也是悲剧。就算城里再好，我们又能够把13亿人，全部弄到城里来吗？

Guitar heroes

I am a big fan of magazines, especially guitar magazines like the Guitar Player. It takes me a long time to finish reading one though. Usually it takes 2-3 years to go from my mailbox to the living room to the bedroom to the bathroom and finally the recycle bin. Just finished reading one issue from 2013 which recommended the instrumental albums "Sound of Innocence" by Kiko Loureiro and "Unfinished Business" by Dean Brown. I enjoyed both a lot as I am a big fan of shredding guitar instrumental (think Vinnie Moore, Joe Satriani) as well as fusion. The funny thing is that I have never heard of Loureiro until this but I'm sure I'll hear more of his work as he just became the new guitarist of Megadeth (replacing Chris Broderick)

I am sure these two guys, Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan, appear in guitar magazines much more often, especially after they collaborated on a new release named "Duets" It's not your "normal" jazz guitar duo album though. They actually took turn to play piano on some of the tracks (with bass and drums) And like the previous releases by Jordan, it included a few pop covers. I enjoy their fresh reinterpretation.

Last but not least, I learned about the new release "Rush" by guitarist Tom Guarna from the "In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond" podcast. And I agree with this review very much that Guarna is in the same league as the "next gen" jazz guitarists that I have seen performing in NYC in the past years like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Gilad Hekselman.

Sports highlights: MLB opening week, IndyCar at NOLA, F1 at Shanghai, the Masters

I took my son to his first A's game at Oakland last Fri (got a decent deal from Groupon) It's also the first game he saw after he really learned the rules and played in little league so he enjoyed it a lot. I did too as it was a 12-0 beating of the division rival Seattle Mariners (featuring superstars like Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz. And Oakland lost the next 2 games by 1 run each!) A's offense reminded me of some of the little league games in which batters keep getting on bases!

The next one I want to write about was not a very-enjoyable event: the IndyCar Grand Prix of Louisiana. The track condition caused by the rain was so bad that basically most of the race in under caution. The early race leaders: Montoya and Power got shuffled back for their pit strategy (or I should say bad luck) The sad thing is: it's actually the 2nd race of the season and I had no idea the season has started already even though I work for the title sponsor! Can't believe I miss all those commercials for the season opener as I watch so much sports on almost every channel every day!

The F1 race at Shanghai was also something I should have missed as nothing really happened during the race. The 2 Mercedes (Hamilton, Rosberg), and the 2 Ferraris (Vettel and Raikkonen) went P1,2,3,4 respectively. The only surprise was how well the rookie Verstappen drove (Saw him in Macau GP last year). Too bad his engine broke near the end of the race.

After a disappointing NCAA title game (my Wisconsin Badgers lost) earlier in the week, finally came some good news. It's regarding my other school: fellow Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth won his first major, the Masters, in record-breaking fashion. The UT Tower went orange to honor his victory! Coincidentally, I also witnessed another Longhorn and former Masters champ, Ben Crenshaw, playing in his last Masters. Very emotional moments! It almost feels like Crenshaw has found a successor in Spieth. Check out this article comparing Spieth to other well-decorated Longhorn athletes!