2 BIG LOSSES: Makemba and Crichton

I'm sure many of us have heard about the recent death of 'MAMA AFRICA', Miriam Makeba in

Italy, when she collapased on stage during a concert. But while Africa is in mourning, so is America, for they've just lost one of their most talented writers, who was also a medical doctor, producer and director. I'm talking about Michael Crichton, author of JURASSIC PARK,

THE LOST WORLD, RISING SUN, DISCLOSURE, & other novels, including being the creator of the T.V series ER. Mama died of a heartattack(on stage) at age 76, which Crichton died at 66 after losing his battle with cancer. Both will be greatly missed and I know the legacy they left behind will go on for a long, long time. May they both rest in peace.

THE NEW FIRST FAMILY: The Obamas

The euphoria of President-elect Obama's victory is yet to fade away; I heard in the news today that new mothers in Kenya have been naming their new born sons 'Barack' & daughters 'Michelle' after the new First Lady. Already President Bush has welcomed his successor & his family to the White House & commented that his victory ''a triumph of the American story.'' The swearing in is to take place on January 20th 2009; I'm sure a lot of Nigerians would be glued to their T.V sets on that second historical day. Personally I plan on taping it if NTA shows it live.

We should all pray for President-elect Obama , that his administration would be fruitful peaceful and he'll more than justify his voters'confidence in him.
As for the soon to be First Lady, Michelle Obama and their two little girls Malia Ann & Natasha- no doubt living at the White House would be overwhelming at first but gradually they'll have to adjust and also play their own roles during the new president's tenure. I JUST CAN'T STOP praising God for this unforgetable triumph in history.

'THIS IS THE LORD'S WORK!' - Elizabeth the 1st

PRAISE BE TO GOD, FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS & MIRACLES FLOW!!! When I got up this morning, (i stayed up till 2 watching the polls) I immediately switched on the T.V and STV News reported that Senator Barack Obama emerged the winner of the 2008 U.S.A presidential elections! AT LONG, LONG LAST- Dr. King's dream finally realised, our prayers answered - a free and fair election resulted in an african-american the new president of the U.S.A. This is truly a historical and very,very happy day for the black race and I can't stop praising God for making this happen; I never never doubted for a minute He had something huge in store for the so long downtrodden african-amercians, never doubted it for a minute. Already several world leaders have congratulated the new president-elect on his victoryand a mass celebration is still going on in his late father's country-Kenya, their president has even declared tommorow a national holiday to commemorate this happy day.

What I like best about this is that a lot of people, BOTH black & white, voted for Obama, showing interracial unity, equality and friendship- one of the main things Dr. King wanted so much & for that I praise and thank God to infinity. And wherever Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers & Malcom X are now, I sincerely believe they are weeping & singing with joy at what God has brought to America, A GREAT CHANGE.

CONGRATULATIONS BARACK OBAMA!

SOLDIERS OF CHANGE

"One day, there’ll come a time when we’ll be judged not by the colour of our skin but by the content of our characters…

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

– Martin Luther King (1929- 68)


And by ‘SOLDIERS OF CHANGE’ I’m referring to the Americans who supported the Civil Rights Movement back in the 60’s as well as the Americans today supporting & voting for Senator Barak Obama-the first African-American presidential candidate after the bitter years of slavery, complete inequality & racism & oppression. Ever since I watched HEAD OF STATE, I prayed and prayed & never doubted that ONE DAY, Martin Luther King’s DREAM would one day be a reality. In many ways it actually has, but this historical day would make him sing in heaven! And I’d like to say Colin Powell is a living example of a gentleman- he’s a former Secretary of State and a Republican, yet he’s publicly declared he will vote for Obama!
I heard in Yahoo News that Obama is leading in the polls as well as the sad news of his beloved grandmother’s death (Allah rest her soul). I just hope whatever the outcome there won’t be any horrible riots out there; so far the election is quite peaceful, which is something this country is yet to practise as well as good sportsmanship in politics. There’s widespread praying here & in other parts of Africa, especially in his father’s country- Kenya- for the outcome to be the pride of Africa end up becoming the new President of U.S.A. Obama isn’t just representing the democratic party, he’s representing the entire black race- and God knows when U.S would ever have another African- American presidential candidate again.
On the other hand, McCain would be making history too, being the oldest man to run for first term , just as John F. Kennedy was the youngest man to be sworn in as President. But be as it may, it’s time for a great change & for the Presidency to be back in the hands of the Democrats; Senator Obama has already promised his first act would be ordering the troops to leave Iraq & negotiate for peace once & for all. The soldiers of change should pray and pray and leave it in our Master’s hands ; He alone knows who the winner is going to be…

LAURA VS E.I ROUND 4- IT'S ON!!!

Sylvia is very tearful & at the last minute doesn't allow Lorenzo to kiss her( i remember their first kiss; he practically devoured her). She believes what they were doing was wrong; Alex didn't deserve as he was a changed man. Lorenzo pleads with her not to marry Alex, it would hurt them both since they were in love with each other. Sylvia replied marrying Alex was a decision she was still working on & tearfully asked him to leave her alone. Laura begged her father to persuade Isabella to come to her motel room, she wanted to convince her to drop the charges. Jose is sceptic that it was the actual reason but he agrees. After he leaves, she brings out a gun...

E.I watches the news, which is all about Laura's escape. She gets a call from Laura but Laura is silent over the phone. After she hangs up, she calls the police.

Alex returns to find Sylvia looking depressed. He asked her why she didn't come to the park & they realise it had been a trick to get her alone with Lorenzo. She told Alex what she'd told Lorenzo & promised to give Alex an answer soon & talk to her cousins as well. Alex is annoyed at the way the family is still treating him. Nattie bitterly recollects the night Orlando had asked her to marry him . Sylvia comes in and scolds her for asking Lorenzo to see her & tells her to leave her alone to handle her life HER WAY, she loved Alex & won't be fixing things with Lorenzo as Alex won't let her downh again. Alex attempts to beat Conan up for his trick but Lysette stops him. He threatened to rearrange his face if he did it again and Sylvia will marry him whether they liked it or not. Lorenzo thinks over what Sylvia had told him. Tony asks Conan not to be at the wedding-he's very insecure around him.Conan reluctantly agreed, to keep the peace between them. Giacormo tells Lorenzo over the phone about what the news was saying about Laura but Lorenzo can't be bothered, since she more than deserved it. Alex barges into Lorenzo's house & attempts to punch him out but Lorenzo, being stronger, overpowered him instead. Alex warns him to leave Sylvia alone. Lorenzo is really disgusted at his audacity; he had cheated on Sylvia & ruined his marriage, he was only pretending to be a changed man & once Sylvia realised that, she'll leave him & he, Lorenzo would be waiting for her- he was the one she really loved. He ordered the idiot to get out of his house. E.P suspected Jose knew where Luara was as he acted nervous at the mention of her name. E.I shows up at the office the next morning , much better & told Lorenzo about the scary phone call, telling him she only felt safe around him. But Lorenzo clearly did'nt feel flattered at that statement, his mind was filled with thoughts about Sylvia. (who I feel is being more childish than foolish).

WILL SYLVIA SAY 'YES'?

Giacormo visited Lorenzo & when Lorenzo told him he was going to divorce Laura, he pointed out Laura seemed to be mentally unstable & needed him for moral support. But Lorenzo is unsympathetic this time- she was an adulteress & a murderer, he’d finally had enough. José advises Mimi to marry for love, she insisted she loved Tony. Surprisingly, Sylvia visited E.I at her suite & is asked if there was anything between her and Lorenzo now that he was a free man. She replied she was going out with Alex & therefore unavailable since Alex was a changed man & was thinking of marrying him. E.I advised her not to make a move on Lorenzo unless she wanted to end up like Laura. Sylvia is not frightened of her; Lorenzo wasn’t part of her life but she was sure he wouldn’t end up with E.I either. With that she left. A policeman enters Laura’s room but finds it empty; she’s ESCAPED!
Outside, Laura, disguised as a nurse, boards a taxi. Horsy finds Alex in Sylvia’s office, reading the paper. She has some cheques for Sylvia so he collects them for her. They flirt with each other despite Alex telling her he was in love with Sylvia. Conan caught them red handed but he acts impassive as he signed for the checks. Horsy assured him she & Alex were friends but he had more to offer than Conan ever will. Mimi wanted Tony to see a movie with her but he’s very busy at the boutique. E.P asked Sylvia if Alex had proposed to her, Sylvia however hadn’t said yes yet & is uncomfortable at E.P’s over affectionate manner towards her. She still can’t forget Alex’s affair with Laura, so she had a lot of thinking to do. Lorenzo is astonished to see E.I had been discharged & tells her Laura had escaped, which frightened her. She had to be very, very careful. E.I can’t understand how Laura could have escaped with a guard outside her door. Lorenzo warned her to keep her door locked & not answer the phone, if Laura calls her, she should call the police.
Conan gives a false message to Alex from Sylvia, to meet him at the park. Mimi hopes Sylvia will say yes to her brother but Conan is angry at the very idea- he’ll never never accept Alex as a member of the family, something that offends Mimi and they quarrel- Conan leaves in a huff. Isabella receives a package & asked Horsy to open it, apprehensive that it from Laura, remembering her threat. But it’s only a get-well present, a crystal bottle, from the hotel staff. E.I shed tears of relief. Jose meets with Laura (who had manipulated him into helping her) & gives her a change of clothes. Lorenzo & Sylvia are alone at the gym; he wants them to get back together in spite of her protests. He insisted her happiness was very important to him; they were apart because he’d thought he was the father of Laura’s baby, now that things were different, they could be together again. He loved her very much. Sylvia just stared at him blankly. (I never thought I’d say this, but Lorenzo is a tad too SOFT…)

DOUBLE KNOCKOUT!

Alex complained to E.P about how Lorenzo was giving Sylvia a lot of loving looks, indicating he was still in love with her. E.P suggested he asked Sylvia to marry him before Lorenzo did. Alex is all for the idea but he needed some money from her, in order to impress Sylvia. Of course his miserly mum didn’t want to give him anything, protesting she didn’t have a cent but Alex insisted; he needed to cement his relationship with Sylvia before she could think of going back to Lorenzo. Reluctantly, she handed him a pittance, which caused him to call her a ‘stingy woman’ & left in a huff.
Lorenzo went to see a very weak E.I, whose stomach had been pumped the moment she arrived. He asked her who tried to poison her & is told it was Laura. Isabella informed him his wife had gone too far this time; she was going to report her to the police, even if he begged her not to. Lorenzo didn’t bother to defend Laura, he’s long realised he’d married a monster & suspected Laura was now unstable. Isabella felt that after this episode, people will realise she wasn’t a terrible person; all she’d been trying to do was to prevent him from being hurt. (yeah right, what about what you did to him & Sylvia- WICKED WOMAN!)
A doctor came in & told him Laura had been brought in by an ambulance, he hurried out to see her.
A journalist calls Sylvia to get her comment about Laura’s sudden illness, but Sylvia hung up the phone. She tells José about it & he’s immediately worried; Laura was still his daughter despite her treatment towards him. Sylvia is certain Lorenzo would soon call to inform them what was wrong with Laura. Laura is in bed when Lorenzo entered her room; she begged him to ignore what had happened between them for the sake of the unborn innocent child. However Lorenzo gave her the bad news- the doctor had informed him that her illness was actually a MISCARRIAGE!
Laura at first refuses to accept it, but there was nothing anyone could do to alter it, she’d lost the baby. She then told Lorenzo that E.I had kicked her hard in the stomach & denied poisoning her when Lorenzo asked her about it. But her question, ‘is Isabella still alive?’ gave her away. Lorenzo told her she was now in very serious trouble & left the room despite her pleas to let her explain why she did it. She swore to wipe E.I off the face of the earth. José is very worried about Laura but Sylvia urged him to wait for word from Lorenzo to confirm it. The phone rings but it’s that idiot Alex, who asked her to meet him at a certain place as he had something very important to tell her. Tony & Mimi talk enthusiastically about the venue of their wedding. Alex prepares for his meeting with Sylvia, he had sold some of Laura’s jewellery he’d blackmailed from her & got additional money. Laura can’t understand how E.I was able to survive. E.I (looking softer without that ghastly eye shadow) enters the room in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse. When they are alone, she mockingly offers her ‘condolences’ on the loss of Orlando’s child. Laura replied that she’d made a huge mistake by not dying; as she didn’t have anything to lose now, she’ll spend the rest of her life plotting to destroy her. E.I had better look out now because she could be hit by a car, find poison in her food or receive a letter with a bomb in it when she least expected it- she’ll HOUND her until the day she died. E.I showed no fear, she planned on going to the police immediately & have her charged for attempted murder, and the only thing Laura had to lose now was her freedom. But even the talk of prison didn’t subdue Laura; she vowed to get even with her at all costs. E.I called the nurse to take her back to her room.
Conan is surprised to hear from his sister that Laura was on admission again. Nattie said José was worried about both Laura & the unborn child & that Sylvia had promised to provide him with several grandchildren. Conan hoped the father wouldn’t be Alex; he had seen Alex flirting with Horsy the other day. Nattie plans to find a way to prove Alex & Horsy were more than just friends, to enable Sylvia leave him once & for all. Giacormo suddenly enters, with a bouquet of flowers for Nattie- to ‘cheer her up’. But she’s not fooled, she bluntly reminded him what she’d told him over the phone; she doesn’t want to date him & is reluctant to accept the flowers from him. He however insisted he hadn’t come to court her; he just wanted to cheer her up. She took the flowers & apologised for her rudeness. She said her feelings for him were platonic, she couldn’t accept him as a lover, still sore at his earlier deceit. Giacormo assured her he really loved her as a woman now but she’s firm, she could only be his friend now. (famous last words!)
Laura rebuffs her father when he comes to sympathise with her, she called him a stupid old man & would rather be an orphan than have him as a father. Horsy visits E.I at the hospital; E.I is intent on sorting Laura out while she’s vulnerable as well as preferring to rest in her hotel suite. Nattie goes to see Lorenzo about Sylvia. She’s very worried about her cousin, she doesn’t want her to make the same mistake she did with Orlando as he and Alex were as alike as 2 peas in a pod. Lorenzo replied he could do nothing as it seemed Sylvia no longer loved him. Nattie insisted that Sylvia DID love him, he had to fight for her before they both lost out.
Sylvia got to the place & Alex showed her a set of keys. It is to the house behind him, he’d just paid the deposit & it’s where they’ll live with their children. While Sylvia is still trying to get his meaning, he brings out a ring & formally asked her to marry him.