the big issue

The current issue of the magazine The Big Issue (that's the one sold by homeless people on street corners) has a cover story on "Shakira - Activist. Philanthropist. Pop goddess." Old photos, but a new interview. A lot about her education work, some hints re the forthcoming album in Spanish (not really thrilled to hear that she's writing material in English for that one, in my humble opinion the Spanish stuff is still better!) and the next tour, but no firm dates.

Anyhow. Another cover for the collection:

recognise that cover star ?

Went to WHSmith this afternoon for no reason whatsoever (except that I had bought something else on the other side of the road and had five mins to spare), stood next to a shelf with magazines and had a funny feeling that somebody was watching me. Investigating the origin of that funny feeling I found this:



It turns out that this is the first ever issue of a new socially aware lifestyle magazine, and who better to put on the cover ... The photos aren't new, the interview is ok (the founding date of PiesDescalzos is wrong, people!), but it is of course a very nice specimen for the collection, and I might even buy the magazine more often.

You can flick through selected pages of the magazine here, or check their blog or follow @RECOGNISEmag on twitter.

Shakira's impact

Way back in the dark ages before MySpace even existed, I used to visit the "official" Shakira message board hosted by Sony. Among the perks were the posts from people who had been exposed to her presence without much accommodation time, e.g. "I was dragged along to the concert by my bf / gf, didn't know what to expect." and who got completely blown away and needed to talk about the experience. A lot. To the seasoned observer, it's always fun to witness the effect an impact has on the uninitiated.

Much the same happens when UK journalists get to interview her, as they have led a rather shielded life around here. I'm not sure whether to blame xenophobia of the public or hopelessness of Sony UK, but the fact is that anything she sings in Spanish doesn't register here at all (unlike, for instance, in Germany!), and only two of the English language singles were big hits here. So to the UK media, she's still a bit of an exotic unknown quantity, and even the music journalists don't know much about her background and her foundation "Pies Descalzos".

So here's the latest journo to be impacted by all this, not knowing quite what hit him, in last Sunday's Observer:

The making of Saint Shakira

Lots of lovely quotes (if you don't have time to read the whole thing):

... realising that she not only knows what she's talking about, but puts her money where her mouth is. It suddenly strikes me that she's Madonna gone right.

(I normally resent any mention of Madonna, but this one's spot on!)

Shakira doesn't just talk about it: she gets things done.

Shakira's Pies Descalzos [Bare Feet] Foundation, which she started at 19, has so far provided education and jobs for over 30,000 Colombians.

I have seldom met someone, especially in the music world, so sane

... and from the sane woman herself:

People get jaded in every profession, but for some reason I feel as passionate as when I was 13 years old and just released my first album, I feel the same amount of adrenalin in my blood, and the same amount of curiosity as well. Curiosity about why I'm different.

By the end of it I had even forgiven the author that he got the name wrong (I believe the last part of the quartet, i.e. her mother's name is Ripoll, not Ripoli).

"now who's the rock star here ?"

PS: Rolling Stone magazine with S. cover story is in the shops now, even in the UK !

children of latin america

Webcast: The Children of Latin American: A Future Without Poverty

On September 24th, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and América Latina en Acción Solidaria (ALAS) present "The Children of Latin America: A Future Without Poverty. Creating equity through early childhood development programs". World leaders from Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador and Panama join Jeffrey D. Sachs and Shakira to discuss the importance of comprehensive early childhood development in Latin America.

The event will be streamed live on Alas Foundation Website

To see the event, simply register on Alas' website.

Participants -- Latin American Leaders:

Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, President, Republic of Mexico
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner, President, Argentine Republic
Elias Antonio Saca González, President, Republic of El Salvador
Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino, President, Republic of Panama

Participants -- Experts and Activists:

Shakira, Advocate, ALAS
Alejandro Sanz, Advocate, ALAS
James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Alejandro Santo Domingo Dávila, President, ALAS Board

bare feet

As Shakira's birthday is coming up at the beginning of February, here's a reminder that her foundation, Pies Descalzos supports children in Colombia who would otherwise have no access to education.



People in the US (and Colombia) can donate directly through the website of the foundation, which has an English version and a US bank account.

In the rest of the world, it is easier to go via
conexion colombia which accepts credit cards over a secure server.