El diecinueve de enero/January 19th

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ricardo Arjona! (Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales) (1964-         )

Arjona in concert at Houston's Toyota Center.
Click HERE. 
A singer/songwriter who has sold-out New York's Madison Square Garden multiple times (and sold more than 20 million albums), Arjona was born in Jocotenango, Guatemala during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996). His mother was of the right and pro-military, while his father was of the left (and communist). Arjona had friends on both sides of the conflict (read more in this interesting interview with La Nación HERE). Arjona speaks in several interviews of the impact a sign at his university, Cuidado hermano revolucionario que te estés graduando de explotador (Careful revolutionary brother, as you are becoming the exploiter), had on him. A member of Guatemala's National Basketball Team  before becoming a professional singer (he once scored 78 points in a single game), Arjona became a commercial and critical success with his second studio album, which included the song Jesús es un verbo no un sustantivo (Jesus is a verb, not a noun) (click HERE to listen). He was married to Leslie Torres of Puerto Rico until 2005 (they have two children together), and he is currently with Venezuelan model Daisy Arvelo, with whom he has a son. His current tour promoting the album Circo Soledad is visiting Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic before coming to the United States (starting with Puerto Rico, and then going to New York, Boston, Miami, etc.) (see Arjona's tour schedule, as well as his creative take on an autobiography, on his official website, HERE).

Click HERE to read an interesting article (in English) about why some hate Arjona's music, while others love it.

Click HERE to see Arjona's 2011 interview with Jorge Ramos (in Spanish) in which he talks about music and politics.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other January 19th birthdays:

Photo from Rodriguez's
Facebook page. 
Paul Rodríguez (1955-      ): Mexican-american comic and actor who is an active Republican (he publicly endorsed presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012) and activist for water conservation (the city of Fresno, California named him "Humanitarian of the Year" for his efforts there). His son, P-Rod, is a well-known professional street skateboarder. Read more about Rodriguez's political views HERE.

Javier Peréz de Cuellar (1920-*internet rumor that he passed away Jan. 3., 2018, but not so!): Prime minister of Peru from Nov. 2000-July 2001 and Secretary General of the U.N. from 1982-1991. A member of the "Club de Madrid" (100+ ex-presidents and ex-prime ministers that work for democracy).

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