FOR NOW...

Backed up by her husband, Raquel told her own side of the story. Max on the other hand glared at her for her 'betrayal'. Tired of Camilla's crass remarks, Tonio took Raquel back upstairs. Oscar cannot understand why Tonio insisted on trusting Raquel. Upstairs, Tonio and Raquel get into a fight; she's against not taking immediate action towards Max and his lies about her.  She was about to go downstairs and confront him face to face but Tonio harshly stopped her from doing so.

Very hurt, she entered her room and locked herself in. Ashamed, Tonio knocked and knocked but she wouldn't open the door for him, instead she wept.
Downstairs, he informed everyone present that he believed totally Raquel and he knew very well that Max really tried to kill him; he more or less admitted it on the night he'd first confronted him about it. Max boldly confirmed he'd said that, but it had been only to 'bug' him. Oscar restrained Tonio who was about to make a move to hit the bastard. Martha comes in but as no one tells her anything, went upstairs in a huff.

Ramon came to remind Tonio that Chucho was still waiting for him, and he left to attend to him. Martha went to see her sister, asking why everyone was acting so strangely and Raquel told her what happened, tearfully feeling it wasn't a good idea to have slept with Tonio, when he still had suspicions about her. In the study, Tonio handed Chucho a thick wad of cash,(by the way, accepting money for saving a life is VERY TACKY) and is thanked profusely. 

 Tonio returned to the living room, coldly told Max he could continue living in the mansion  BUT must stay away from his wife,   and went upstairs. Victoria gave her son very strong advice which he sulkily listened to before walking out on her.

 Max goes to meet  his accomplice, Luis (one of the drivers) at his quarters. Or... I don't know, it's a huge estate. They talk about how there would be no way for Tonio to easily find the judge. As for the manager of the building where he rented an apartment, she will not recognise any photo of him, since she never saw him physically; Luis had arranged the lease and everything. Tonio maybe as smart as most people say he is, but he was yet to outsmart Max. For now, they will lay low until the dusts settle then come up with another plan. Max is angry and bitter; Raquel was his yet ended up falling in love with Tonio and giving herself to him. However, he was still going to have her no matter what and punish her like she deserves, for betraying him. Luis is promised 25 million pesos once they reach their goal, but Luis wants 50 million instead.

 

Daniel and Chucho, wearing one of Daniel's shirts, leave the house to go to town. 

Tonio is angry and bitter at the unresolved issue; he goes to see Raquel, who is talking with Martha. After she leaves, Tonio asks Raquel if she left his room last night because of Max banging on the door. She tells him what happened, and how Max called her a tramp and a fool. She now  regrets  sleeping with him, because how could he say he  loves her if he doubts her. Tonio said due to what he's being through, it's only logical he still had  some doubts. 

Raquel is more upset. She didn't know how to convince him she wasn't Max' s accomplice.  Did he honestly think she would actually conspire to kill him?

Tonio shook his head slowly then pulled her into his arms. Tearfully, Raquel wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back. 

It's NOT True!

Watched by a very nervous Raquel, Tonio told his stepmother the whole story, to her amazement and disbelief. She asked, 'Raquel isn't your wife then?'

But Tonio said Raquel WAS his wife by law; because  the marriage certificate bearing their signatures wasn't revoked after 30 days and they were very much in love now.
Mummy Vicky is very upset, she refused to believe that her own flesh and blood was capable of killing anyone, even though he and Tonio never got along as boys and it still didn't give him the right to bar him from the house; he's lived here since he was a boy. Ramon walked in to remind Tonio that Chucho was still waiting for him. Tonio tried to calm a weeping Vicky but she's far too upset at what she'd just heard. Raquel is horrified to see Evil Max suddenly enter, with Dr. Oscar- pretending to be justifiably outraged at his unfair treatment and Oscar restrained him when he made a move at Tonio, pretending to be shocked at his accusation. He suggested they straightened every thing out in the study. Tonio consoled Raquel, assuring her everything would turn out well in their favour. Raquel was very worried about what Max would say about her and what he might still do to Tonio. He told her to remove all negative thoughts in her head. Kissing her, he left for the study.

There, Max maintained he had no idea what Tonio and Raquel were accusing him of (the man has a lot of nerve, I swear!) and flatly denied everything. Oscar and Mummy Victoria sided with him, even after Tonio poured out everything Raquel had told him and the little he had found out.

Max strongly suggested it was Raquel who was the guilty one, suddenly coming to pass herself off as his wife (once again, what did Raquel see in that idiot in the first place??) but Tonio coldly replied that he trusted his wife completely- He, Max, was the culprit behind the plot.

At the guest bungalow, Chucho and Daniel discuss where to hang out for the evening once Tonio gives Chucho the money as promised. Camilla narrates what Vicky had told her and Claudio to Maura, although Claudio had forbidden her to. Later on, Camilla goes to the Mansion and is informed by Ramon that Tonio was in a meeting with Vicky, Oscar and Max. Camilla tried to eavesdrop but got interrupted by a very surprised Chucho, who wondered why she was listening at the door. She sharply told him to go away and went back to listen. Oscar pointed out that Tonio was upsetting Vicky with the allegations and he needed sufficient prove before accusing him. Before Camilla could listen to more, Tonio opened the door and saw her. Ignoring her false greeting, he went upstairs, where Raquel was waiting. He told her that Max denied everything, to her frustration. She asked him what they could do, he said nothing, at least until they are able to locate the judge who had officiated the civil wedding.Raquel dreaded the idea of still living under the same roof with Max; Tonio assured her he'll always protect her, managing to coax a smile from her.

Camilla tried in vain to find out from Vicky and Oscar what the meeting was about, but they and Max maintain a stony silence. Slightly comforted, Raquel now wondered how Vicky and the others would treat her now. Once again Tonio assured her of his protection and took her downstairs with him.

ETTA JAMES VS BEYONCE KNOWLES

Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z, has had beefs with fellow artistes in the past but who would have expected former lead singer of Destiny's Child to actually have someone badmouth her publicly all of a sudden?

The lady doing this is legenday soul singer Etta James, who happens to be the original singer of the hit song AT LAST. Apparently, she took offence when Beyonce sang it at the inaugural ball to President Obama and the First Lady's first dance that night, and so beautifully too. After that, Ms. James expressed her fury towards poor Beyonce for singing her song!

At first, I figured Ms. James was justifiably pissed off because maybe Beyonce sang AT LAST without permission. I don't even know what terms Celine Dion had to meet before adding that same song in the track listing of her 2002 album A NEW DAY HAS COME; and it would'nt be the first time she would sing her own version of someone else's song- like Jennifer Rush's POWER OF LOVE or Tina Turner's RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH- not that I'm critising her.

But while I was at Tantalizer's last Thursday, I saw this beef being talked about on CNN & an old footage of Beyonce singing AT LAST to Etta herself, as a tribute; the 2 women hugged and kissed at the end. Now it's 'I can't stand Beyonce' and something about 'whupping her ass', plus actually adding President Obama himself to her black list. She said and I quote, 'He maybe you president but he ain't mine.'

I'm sure Beyonce meant no harm and disrespect and I thought she should apologise to Ms. James to keep the peace but I really don't like what she said about the President, it's not like he requested for the song, according to CNN. Now, I just got word that Ms. James has made an annoucement that all she'd said was a joke. Considering she said rather nasty things about 2 very popular people, one of them who'd just made history- one can't help but consider that to be a very, very expensive joke, would'nt you say?

Personally, I don't consider it a joke nor her sudden apology sincere.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA!!!

Happy New Year to all my guests and thank you for the words of encouragement – I promise to continue keeping the flag flying. I’m more than happy making this my first blog post of 2009 and nobody needs 3 guesses; it’s because of the historical day millions of people around the world witnessed- the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States; President Barack Obama. After years of slavery, racial killing, segregation, inequality, the struggles the soldiers of change faced in the Civil Rights Movement, the prophetical words in the song, ‘WE SHALL OVERCOME,’ and Dr. Martin Luther King’s legendary speech, ‘I HAVE A DREAM’- has finally, finally come to pass and I can’t stop praising Almighty God for making this happen. God is Merciful and His time is the best, and with that in mind, I never never stopped believing He had a huge thing in store for the black race- something that will make us stand tall and gradually put an end to racism and make Dr. King’s dream of racial harmony a reality. And I mentioned in one post that after watching HEAD OF STATE, I firmly believed what happened in the film would one day one to pass, in spite of the negative comments from the more cynical members of my family. At the announcement of the election results and the swearing-in, I kept wiping my eyes with a Kleenex, out of joy and thinking about the efforts of the Civil Rights Leaders back in the bitter days of segregation.
Now we can finally say that Dr. King, Medger Evers, Malcolm X and all the other Civil rights leaders that were assassinated during the struggle didn’t die in vain(May their souls rest in peace) , for their dreams has finally come to pass, probably far more than they dared dream of.
May President Obama do both his birth country and ancestral country proud and I PRAY his administration will be a peaceful and prosperous one. AMIN.

Back to the home front, I know everyone is very disappointed about La Mujer de Lorenzo- I am as well but I promise to search everywhere for info on it- we are all more than anxious to find out what became of Laura and Evil Isabella and how Lorenzo was able to win back Sylvia. But I should remind you there'll be more posts on TU O NADIE, it's a very intersting telenovela as well, so pls turn to the blog and get more of its episodes.

PEACE OUT.

THE THORN BIRDS: TRAGEDY

Images shot from DVD

Justine meanwhile becomes a stage actress in Europe and one day visits Dane at the Vatican. Cardinal Vittorio liked her immediately; he later told Ralph she was ‘very entertaining’ and how underneath her independent spirit and flippant way of talking was a very sensitive young woman. Some one else is also attracted to Justine, a friend of Ralph’s- Rainer "Rain" Moerling Harheim, a German politician and several years older than her. Justine goes out with him but is afraid of total commitment, although she loves him as well. Dane is later ordained as a priest, ironically by his own father. He takes a vacation to Crete in Greece, Justine was to join him but she stayed behind to be with Rain. While swimming in the sea, Dane noticed two women in trouble with the current and swarm to rescue them but he suffered a sudden heart attack and drowned!
Meggie is told the terrible news by Fee who'd spoken with Justine over the phone and after some difficulty; Dane’s body is flown back to Drogheda accompanied by Ralph, Justine and Rain. Dane’s remains is taken to the family vault. Ralph tries his best to console Meggie but filled with pent up rage and sorrow, she turned to him and told him the truth; DANE WAS HIS SON! Ralph faintly said it was'nt true but Meggie coldly asked him how on earth would he think she could go back to Luke after what they had done at Matlock Island; Dane was his son, a more perfect version of himself. Ralph burst into heart wrenching tears but Meggie made no move to comfort him.
Rain tells Meggie that Justine felt she was the cause of her brother’s death by not being with him in Crete and had decided to move back to Drogheda permanently, instead of going back to London. But Meggie tells Justine she had nothing to be guilty about; it was true she had loved Dane more than her and had neglected her like Fee did to her years back, but she still loved her daughter very much. The two embrace each other warmly and Justine follows her mother’s advice of finding happiness; she finally said yes to Rain’s proposal of marriage.
Justine and Rain take their leave, telling Meggie that Ralph wasn’t flying back with them and he wanted to see her. Meggie found him in the flower garden (where they’d exchanged their first kiss so many years back), in prayer. He however looked up when he felt Meggie’s hand on his shoulder.
She slipped her arms round him and he held her ; hugging each other in reconciliation. Ralph filled with relief, said, ‘My Meggie. I knew you would forgive me, I knew.’ He signaled to her not to apologize to him for her harshness.
He looked even more frail, broken down by the knowledge he had failed Meggie by putting his ambition to be Cardinal before her, instead of leaving the church and marrying her a long time ago. He knew very well that choice would cause him pain and yet he had done it anyway. And Meggie had gone through many battles but still had the ability to love & she'd never stopped loving him despite the way he'd wronged her. Meggie didn’t reproach him; instead she rested her head on his lap, while he stroked her hair. Ralph is noticeably very ill but still kept his hand on Meggie's head, stroking her hair.
He asked her if she remembered a story he’d told her years ago, about the mythical thorn bird that searches for a thorn tree from the day it hatches. She remembered, he had told the story the night Frank and Paddy had quarreled. When the bird finds the perfect thorn, it impales itself –singing its most beautiful song as it dies. Ralph replied, the bird is not aware of its death, it just sings and sings and dies singing. But they humans, when they put the thorns in their breasts, they know very well. They understand but still they do it.
Meggie smiled sadly , kissed his hand and put her head back on his lap,while he continued stroking her hair, once red with golden highlights, now gray. But after a while, Meggie noticed his hand had stopped moving; it had fallen to his side. She looked up and saw his eyes were closed forever.

Ralph, whom she’d known and loved for 43 years… was dead. She touched his cheek and hugged him, too numb with grief to cry. She then placed her head back on his lap,
the plane conveying Justine and Rainer to Sydney flying overhead...



THE END. 
 

THE THORN BIRDS: MEGGIE'S SECRET

Images shot from DVD

Ralph and Meggie spent several idyllic days on the Island, the happiest they'd had in years. Ralph now realised that being in love with Meggie made him a man like all men, despite his ambition to be the perfect priest. He however had to go back to his duties in Rome but tells Meggie he truly wished he could marry her and never be apart from her ever again; he'll never stop loving her, she must remember that. They exchange a very painful goodbye and he leaves for Rome, while she prepares to leave Luke. When she returned back to Anne and Luddie's house, she already knew she was pregnant... with RALPH'S BABY!

To cover up, (in the novel) she spent one night with Luke, told him exactly what she thought of him and left, telling him he could kept the money he'd stolen from her but he must never step one foot into Drogheda or expect more money from her from then on. She and Justine went back to Drogheda and are very warmly recieved. Months later, Meggie gave birth to Ralph's child, a beautiful baby boy she named Dane. Fee is the only one who immediately knew that Ralph is the father, not Luke, the boy resembled Ralph very much, except for the colour of his hair, blonde while Ralph's was black. Over the years no one in the family ever found out (blind or stupid, I don't know). Ralph confessed to his mentor, Cardinal Vittorio about what had finally happened between him and Meggie. Vittorio, who had known about their love since the rose Meggie had given Ralph fell out of the missal he stored it in, understood and was'nt shocked , especially since it had been with The Rose, (his own name for Meggie) whom he felt very sorry for.

19 years later, Ralph is finally a Cardinal and goes to visit Drogheda. He meets Meggie's children, outspoken Justine and respectful Dane. Meggie is now in her forties, Ralph in his sixties but their love for each other is as strong as ever; they shared another romantic night together. Perhaps Meggie would have told Ralph her secret if Ralph hadn't expressed his hurt about her going back to Luke after what they had done in the Island, and allowing him to father Dane- -she merely told him no one thought of Dane as Luke's son, but as her son. Ralph forms an immediate rapport with Dane during his stay, not realising at all that he was his son, neither does Dane. Dane shocks his family, especially his mother of his intention of becoming a priest! Meggie doesn't blame Ralph as the boy had already decided before meeting Ralph at all. Fee points out to Meggie that what she'd stolen from God, she must now give back. Meggie resignedly sends Dane to Rome, to be under Ralph's care. Vittorio, who sees through anyone and anything, immediately saw that The Rose's son was fathered by Ralph due to their resemblance. To cover up and at the same time protect the three of them, he asks Ralph to say that Dane was his nephew to avoid people saying he was showing too much preference to Dane. They agree and it worked. -TO BE CONTINUED...

THE THORN BIRDS: THE WRONG HUSBAND

Images shot from DVD 

Meggie married Luke O' Neill but the marriage is an unhappy one right from day one. Luke was a miserly oppoturnist who'd only married her for her money; he regarded women in general as sex objects and prefered to hang out with men more often. They go to Queensland and he gets her a live-in job with a couple, Luddie and Anne Mueller who treat her very kindly. He finds himself a job as a cane cutter in a sugar cane plantation. Before he left, he arranges for Meggie's wages to be paid direcly to him and he keeps her bank book which has all her savings. He claimed he was saving to buy a homestead for both of them, but he had no intention of spending any money or give up the toil of sugar cane cutting as it is very competitive. He hardly visited Meggie and in her despair, she gets pregnant on purpose, in order to force Luke to settle down but it does'nt work, he's angry at having another mouth to feed. Most of the time, Meggie thinks about Ralph and longs to go back home, but is far too proud to tell her brothers Luke treated her badly. One of her brothers, Bob, wrote to her that Ralph visited them unexpectedly and had been upset she was'nt there & furious that they had'nt told him she'd married, and how he moped around as if she would suddenly appear. But her brothers still didn't suspect anything,they just felt Ralph missed her since they've always had a deep bond. Ralph, now an archbishop, is very sad at Meggie's absence & marriage and very worried about her. Luke did'nt sound like a nice person to him. Cardinal Vittorio, his mentor, found out the reason why Ralph had been harbouring so much sadness in his eyes for a long time when the rose Meggie had given him fell out of his missal. Ralph confessed it spoke of a love as pure as he bore God and it was for the church he'd forsaken her. Vittorio tried to cheer him up and vowed to always pray for Meggie- 'The Rose' as he called her.

Much to Luke's anger, Meggie had written to Ralph for a loan in the hope Luke would have more than enough money to buy a house instead of saving so hard, not realising he was hoarding Meggie's money with no intention of spending at all, he was merely making excuses. Ralph received her  letter in Sydney, the letter forwarded from Greece.

Meggie's due date comes and she has a very difficult labour. She bravely resists the pain but kept on yelling for Ralph. Ralph suddenly appears, much to Anne and Luddie's amazement(they had'nt expected the Ralph Meggie kept calling to be an archbishop) and immediately realise that the two were in love. Ralph asked the doctor to save Meggie if he had to chose between her and the baby- but fortunately both survive.
Meggie gives birth to a baby girl, whom she named Justine. But she wished that the child was Ralph's and accused him of ruining her life by saying he loved her but chose to remain in the church instead of marrying her and treated her as if she was still a child. Ralph is very sad at Meggie's state but leaves. Luke still does'nt come over the months to see Meggie or Justine. Meggie is yet to recover from childbirth so Anne and Luddie send her to a private resort called Matlock Island for 2 months to get her strength back. Ralph comes to see Meggie on his way to Rome and is told by Anne where Meggie was. He gets there, merely to visit Meggie and mend fences but Meggie, angry that he'd showed up to hurt her again tries to run away from him but he ran after her and caught her, kissing her passionately. A short while later the couple at long last consummated their love...