A Message From Danielle Steel

November 2007

Dear Friends,

Thanksgiving makes November a very special month, with friends and families gathering to give thanks for their blessings, enjoy each others' company, and open their homes and hearts. It's wonderful to share the holidays with one's family, but sometimes sharing it with friends can be just as special and warm and meaningful.

No matter how challenging our lives, we all have something to be grateful for, and it's good to be reminded of it from time to time. Sometimes in giving to others we derive the greatest and most unexpected blessings for ourselves. I hope that your Thanksgiving is all that you hope it will be, and that you share it with those who mean the most to you! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Love,

Danielle

P.S. You are always welcome to visit me at my home on the web:
http://info.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin21/DM/y/evhv0Mx6Ij0V50H860Eg
----------------------------------------------------------------------

LA USURPADORA'S FINAL BOW

LA USURPADORA finally ended last week Thursday(upper) on GALAXY TV, the climax being Carlos Daniel, finally free of his diabolical and prosmiscous wife Paola, married her more saintly twin Paulina(who HAD to be persuaded to marry him in the first place as she did'nt feel right about marrying her brother-in-law although she loved him). It also however ended on a sad note for Carlos Daniel's sister Estefania, who suddenly lost her mind after her horrible husband was thrown in prison for attempted murder and arson and her other brother Roderigo and his wife Patricia had to adopt her son.

Very strange how things turn out at the end of some telenovelas- in THE GADERNER'S DAUGHTER(LA HIJA DE JARDINERO) Luisa Fernanda married Carlos Eduardo, who most people around here don't seem to remember that he was her stepbrother,(her biological father, Luis Alejandro, was married to Carlos Eduardo's mother, Marissa) it disgusted my mum after I narrated the story to her but she hadnt been disgusted in NO ONE BUT YOU when Raquel fell in love with Antonio and vice-versa, who was her exboyfriend's stepbrother. Most of what happens in telenovelas cannot happen here in Nija but still... doesn't mean we don't enjoy the intrigue, right??

For all my vistors who requested for the full summary of CATALINA y Sebastian, it's going to take a lot of work and time but I'll do my very best.

THE RICH ALSO CRY...a trip down memory lane

CUANDO SEAS MIA' hit our screens in 2005 after a long telenovela hiatus, the last,until then the Brazillian soap, 'SECRETS OF THE SANDS'.
Since then, more telenovelas have been pouring in; a far cry from the time when the practice was a new telenovela was presented AFTER its predecessor wrapped up, the only exception being the period when 'THE LADY OF THE ROSE' aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 p.m and 'WILD ROSE' was shown on Mondays to Thursdays on NTA 10 , immediately after the 10 o' clock News.
Most people have probably forgotten THE RICH ALSO CRY(Los Ricos Lloran Tambien), the first global telenovela and the VERY first Mexican soap to hit our screens, back in the 90s. It's a Telenovela that will forever remain in our memories, mostly because of the Principal characters;
Marianna played by Veronica Castro (who happens to be a year older than my Mum... it's true, the telenovela was produced in 1979),Luis Alberto played by the handsome and very macho Rogelio Guerra(right), Augusto Bendico(who sadly died at the ripe old age of 83 on January 19, 1992) played the family kindly but no- nonsense Don Alberto who took the orphaned Marianna in and treated her like the daughter he and his wife never had, including encouraging her to be a positve influence on his wayward son ,Luis Alberto but at the same time protecting her from being taken advavantage of. There's also Elena, Alberto's wife (first played by Alicia Rodriguez then later by Marilu Elizaga). And last but not least, the woman THE RICH ALSO CRY fans hated so much and was a constant thorn in Marianna and Luis Alberto's flesh, Elena's niece, Esther played by Rocio Banquells whose diabolical action caused most of the action in the telenovela but reports indicated that most people cried when she asked for forgiveness on her deathbed.
The whole story began with the orphaned Marianna going to the big city to locate her late father's lawyer friend who had recently visited them at the ranch(after Leonardo's death, her stepmother Irma, threw her out) but ended up in the household of Don Alberto who insisted on adopting her as his daughter instead of hiring her as a maid, much to her suprise and much to the displeasure of his wife and their niece,Esther who saw the much more beautiful Marianna as a threat to her plans to trap her cousin Luis Alberto, into marriage.
Luis Alberto and Marianna disliked each other on sight, he was spoiled and arrogant and she was the only person besides Alberto who could stand up to him. But gradually, her maturity and beauty won him over and instead of viewing her as an object of lust, fell in love with her and started showing postive change. But the cold hand of Esther split them up; she accused him of raping her while he was drunk and was now carrying his baby. Meanwhile, Irma discovered that there was a hiddden Will, naming Marianna as the sole heir to the ranch and she sent her lover Diego to look for her and then murder her, BUT when he finds her Diego decides to seduce her instead and marry her for her money.

However, Mariannna begins to date the son of Alberto's business associate instead, who is her father's name sake, Leonardo, as well as being closer to her in age , unlike Luis Alberto, who is 32,(she was merely 18). A friend of Diego and Irma-a ruthless gangster- sent a hitman but the man ended up killing Marianna's roommate instead, in their flat. Esther(after staging a miscarriage to cover her tracks) got pregnant for real by Diego and ran away, due to his and the fake doctor's blackmail but ended up very ill and the family learnt of her deceit but forgave her, including Luis Alberto and Marianna. Both Esther and her baby died and Luis Alberto and Marianna reconciled. The climax of the story was Diego killing his gangster friend, the discovery of the Will, and Diego and Irma's arrest.
The telenovela apparently ended with Luis Alberto and Marianna's wedding after she got back her inheritance from her even more diabolical stepmother Irma, but alas, NTA 10 didn't finish the story as they probably didn't want to shock us with what happened next...
Luis Alberto took over the business like his father had always wanted him to do- which meant he had to go on business trips. One day, when he wasn't at home, Marianna's ex-fiance,Leonardo, came to visit Alberto(at least that what he said) and while talking with her, she suddenly feels ill and faints, naturally he catches her to prevent her from falling on the ground. But at that same moment, Luis Alberto came home, saw Leonardo holding his wife and jumped to a VERY WRONG CONCLUSION. It turned out that the reason why Marianna had fainted was because she was pregnant but ALAS! Luis Alberto refused to believe the baby was his(out of jealousy) and refused to listen to Marianna's pleas; he stayed in Brazil attending to his business, leaving Marianna alone with Maria, Ramona and the other servants to console her. After several months, he sent a letter announcing he was divorcing her and Marianna threw a fit- she ran away and fainted on the street. She had her baby but due to the  shock of L.A's cruelty and the after effects of child birth, she lost her mind and gave her baby to a stranger- naming him Beto after his father and grandfather. 
A repentant L.A found her at a psychiatric hospital and begged her forgiveness, adopting a baby girl to make it up to her. But for years, Marianna could'nt

Marianna did'nt dare tell anyone but Marisabel later found out the truth & was distressed to discover she was actually adopted. Luis Alberto meanwhile gets very jealous and angry over Mariana's great affection towards young Beto and finally asked her for a divorce. Marianna then told Beto the truth and he was overjoyed the lady he was very fond of was his bio- mother. Luis Alberto entered the house just as Marianna and the children just finished having dinner; branishing a gun to defend his honour but Marianna & Marisabel revealed the truth to him just in time. She and Luis Alberto repaired their marriage after he tearfully apologised to her and begged her and Beto to forgive him.
I was absolutely shocked when I came across this info and just had to post it. Everyone who had watched this soap would of couse be on Marianna's side; i remember her as the epitome of virtue itself, why on earth Luis Alberto(who fought so hard to keep her loving him) would draw to such a conclusion in the first place but at least it ended happily at long last.
 


TRIVIA: The actor who played  the priest, Father Adrian, (Rafael Banquells) was not only  the director of  THE RICH ALSO CRY  but in real life the father of Rocio Banquells (Esther). 

 

8 Years memoriam...PILAR SOUZA

Stalwart fans of CATALINA Y SEBASTIAN would have noticed by now that there is a new and younger actress playing the character of Antoinette's maid, Josefa. The reason being that the lady who played her initially, Pilar Souza, died before this 1999 telenovela wrapped up, on July 18th, 1999, this year making it 8 years since she passed on. Pilar Souza made an impression in this telenovela and already I feel a void, now that she's no longer there, because Pilar's potrayal of the no-nonsense yet loyal maid of Antoinette was so realistic that it was quite a jolt to see another actress in her place and then experience the sad sight of her obituary at the end of that episode.
On behalf of the Nigerian fans of Catalina y Sebastian, I pray for Pilar's soul to rest in eternal peace, AMIN...

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

It's totally amazing how the good ones are so badlymisunderstood, lied against and unfairly accused ofcrimes they didn't exactly commit, whereas the bad ones are seen as "good friends" and epitomes of Virtue and Honesty in CATALINA Y SEBASTIAN; the whole state of affairs just pisses me off completely. Cat shed tears for Sebastian and Martina's (apparent) loss oftheir father, even calling him 'a good man' in spiteof his nasty and unfair attitude towards her yet getsblow beaten when she tried to offer her condolence. On the other hand, sickly sweet, EVIL Jessica (who is Carmelo's partner in crime of forging the Will) is the "decent one" whom Sebastian is parading as his girlfriend, just so that Cat would "show her truecolours" if she found out he was poor, then she (Jessica) will have him all to herself besides the money Carmelo promised her. If they only knew poor Cat just wants to lavish Sebastian with love and comfort as well as refusing to demand a share of his

inheritance like her parasite mother insists she does, but no…. she's labelled the enemy by everyone, except for Petra who is a witness to the contrast between her and Adela through observing the heated arguments and Panchito (who seems to unfailingly know how a person

is on the inside) who is still her most loyal friend. Mrs. Philomena has posted hints about how this stupid programme will end in TELENOVELA GARDEN but I hopes she soon posts Sebastian's reaction when he finds outhow he'd wronged the WRONG woman and kept the evil one by his side, he'll feel like a total fool and RIGHTLY so too!

Toni is another matter; the only name I can use to describe her is "a walking contradiction," I've never seen a more pathetic, Inhuman woman than her in my life. When I saw her weeping over Lupe's disappearance, I thought, 'finally, some human emotion' only to be later disgusted on discovering that the only reason she was upset was the idea of Lupe dying without fulfilling her revenge on him, at the same time (as Panchito gently pointed out) she had never stopped loving him yet bitterly hating him as well for refusing to return that love (na by force?)all of which has given her an unhealthy obsession.

Mrs. Philo's mention about Cat's absurd sacrifice disturbed me a lot, although I can't say I was

shocked; she loves Daddy's boy more than life itself,the only thing that exasperated me is that Sebastian only saw her action as a means of getting the Mendoza fortune instead of it being for his and Martina's benefit, once again adding 2 and 2 together and making 6. Heaven knows how this telenovela will really end because from what I'm seeing, Cat would have to be a real saint to forgive and overlook the injustices she had experienced at the hands of the Mendozas. The question of whether Cat is expecting Sebastian's baby or not or whether Lupe will survive

his ordeal and ask for her forgiveness as well as how the whole truth will eventually come out, only Timewill tell, I just hope we won't have to wait too long...

POOR, POOR CATALINA!

HATE IS THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE- Josepha

I felt so very sorry for our Cat yesterday- the way she cried over Daddy's boy's cruel declaration that he no longer loved her and then fainting like that; either the beginning of a nervous breakdown OR she's carrying the first of a new generation of Mendozas. Except, it's  established being  that Daddy's boy AIN'T a Mendoza so heaven knows what surname their baby (if there's a baby) would bear after he or she is born. Probably a boy because in the photo of their SECOND wedding here,you can all see a little boy standing between them, holding Cat's train. So, Cat is going to be a Mummy!

Ricardo and Adela are so shameless; they don't even bother to hide their plans to get money at all costs and ironically it's partially Adela's fault that her daughter is suffering yet again- making Daddy's boy believe that they had known all along he wasn't a foreman and I really wish Romero HAD beaten Ricardo up. Now that Sebastian has seen them in their true colours, he's now being refered by them as "that rancher" instead of the "handsome millionare". Sour grapes folks, Heaven knows how they'll react when they find out he's not Lupe's son afterall, probably order Cat to abort her pregancy so that "the real heir" (Creepy Carmelo) can finally marry her.

The possibility of Cat expecting Sebastian's son (why must they think it's a boy first??) is both good and bad... Cat willl have the child to console her at least but that fool could declare her an unfit mother and use his money and connections to have the child taken away from her custody- not a good scenario AT ALL.

Daddy's boy on the other hand irritated me with his sulking over Lupe's apparent peference for Creepy Carmelo and he and Romero(if that boy doesnt know anything he should shut up) unfairly blaming Cat for his present disharmony with Lupe, as if Carmelo wasn't already crazy before he and Cat ever even met. "Creepy Carmelo"s playacting irritated me furhter especially since the ranch people felll for it, including the stoic Panchito.

Toni is another case entirely, like Cat, she's suffering from a guy's abandonment but I don't feel sorry for her; she loves Lupe yet hates him at the same time and only hopes he's alive so that she can fufilll her bloodthirsty revenge- talk about the woman scorned, she SERIOUSLY NEEDS therapy. Personally, she should just stay FAR AWAY from Cat's baby.

Sebastian, YOU ARE SUCH A LOSER!

Yesterday, i(and probably other fans of this increasingly RIDICULOUS telenovela, 'Catalina y Sebastian') witnessed yet another showdown between Cat. and Sebastian;Sebastian is so full of self pity, going out of his way to humiliate his soon-to-be ex-wife to the fullest despite her obviously hurting. At least Amelia is now directing her poison at someone else(Jessica, who is in no way better than her) while Cat herself is laying the foundations of starting afresh.

The accusation of her having an affair with Eduardo sounded so silly coming from Sebastian's mouth, considering he finally took Cat's virginity on their shortlived honeymoon, I just can't fathom a man who can be so stupid and guillible like Sebastian Mendoza, personally, i wish Jessica and Amelia joy of him; if he's so into conniving man-eaters like those two, Cat is far far better off without 'Daddy's boy.' I liked him better as Diego.

Another wahala is Lupe's accident, most likely he now has amnesia and 'Creepy Carmelo' for sure will milk this situation for all its worth except I'm trying to get the answer to these 2 questions...

Is Carmelo doing this for Lupe's love ONLY or for the money as well? Did Lupe sleep with (ugh!) Toni and Caremelo is his son afterall?(Lupe is always anxious to defend him).

For those who still do me kindness by visiting this blog, i need your opinions.

Peace.