The New York Rally ---

*I want to preface this entire story by saying I have not stopped laughing in since sometime around 8am on Saturday morning……It is now Sunday at around 11am…..

T'was the morning of the New York City Rally….I wake up at 5am and get ready to head out for Northern Jersey to pick up Rayne (Jess), VaSusieQ (Susie), Ginajas (Gina), and Buzzwire (Nikki).  I leave my house at 5:45 to get gas – because we all know Moonlight fans and gas problems…..I mean running out of gas problems. (For those not in the know….enroute to Warner Brothers in Los Angeles for the Rally….a fully loaded van full of Moonlight fans ran out of gas lol.)  I refuse to be a victim!  I use the GPS to set a course for Jess' house.

I start the drive jamming to Moonlight music…..life is good.  I get to the mountain – I think I shall rename Jess' neighborhood "Maze Mountain"…..so many streets, so few house numbers!!!!!!  I finally find her a little after 8am.  The obligatory hugs, sqeeuing, and putting on of "flare" (pins, ribbons, bracelets…all pinned to Save Moonlight T-shirts of some sort)…..if we had been in an accident we'd have all needed the jaws of life to extract the pins from our chests!!!  We paint up my truck with Save Moonlight slogans…."Honk of you love vampires"…."We love Mick and Josef"…."MickBeth 4-ever"…."Team Trevor".…..and we're off.

**Now another little preface here.  I have an unusually weird and likely emotionally unhealthy, attachment to my truck.  It's a 2007 GMC Acadia that I pretty much custom ordered, had a special after market paint treatment applied, a jamming stereo system…..it's my baby.  Even after owning it a year I still refuse to park near anyone in a large parking lot!  I had never driven the truck in New York City.  Oh wait….I had NEVER DRIVEN IN NYC!!!  Cabbies and NY drivers scare the hell outta me – so I always commute into the city and use the subway.   For Moonlight…..I took my baby into the city and I actually DROVE!  (Well – I almost took my car into the city…see below – it gets good!)

So, we pile in the car and we head for the city.  We're all jamming and singing --- acting like Moonlight Fans.  Jess decides that the GPS directions aren't right – so she calls the On-star lady and tries to get our route changed.   The OnStar lady says something to the effect that the route is correct – Jess argues that we want to stay on 80, but the directions keep telling us to get off….and that we don't want to get off here.   The snickers start in the seat behind me….that would be Buzz….and spread through the entire car – except for Jess who is still arguing the "getting off" with the OnStar lady.   While Jess continues to try to get "correct" OnStar directions the remaining four of us launch into a very low-ball discussion of where we would like to get off.....uh, well……let's just say it was a Gutter conversation and leave it at that…..all in full ear shot of the woman from OnStar.  OOPSY!  Anyway we bag the GPS for now – and plan to pick up again in the city.

We turn up the music and all start singing along to Sugarcults "Los Angeles"…."I want a car, car that won't break down……."  Remember that – it comes in handy later.

We make it aaaaaaaaalmost the George Washington Bridge – which launches the car into a conversation about bridges and tunnels……I HATE driving over bridges, and so does pretty much everyone in the car….pansies!   We make the curve of the highway I decide I need to speed up.  I hit the gas – nothing happens.  WTF?  We are on the outside lane of the highway heading into NYC and the truck is acting "funny"...so we I hit the gas AGAIN….nothing, nada, zippo, ppllllbbbbt…..and the computer is flashing several messages at me that all the other systems are shutting down.  We manage to get to the edge of the highway – problem is that it is right at the edge of the ON RAMP, so we are STILL in the middle of the highway.  I shut off the truck – and smoke billows out from under the hood…or it might have been from under the truck….there was a lot of it, and seeing as people were whizzing by at astronomical speeds just inches away – I wasn't getting out to LOOK! 

So we hit the OnStar button – and say we need HELP!  The lady asks if we need the police – hell I already had the FBI in the car….I told her we were good.  She said hold on I am going to put 30 minutes of additional time on your phone for you…uh gee thanks, but there are 6 or 7 cell phones in the car….we're good……nope, she does something makes some beeps and I have additional minutes on my trucks phone – goody gum drops.   Can we get a tow truck……she's working on that.  (Remember – on the side of the road – smoke billowing from the car, cars whizzing by….)  We look over to the on ramp – and there is a tow truck sitting there.  Are you kidding me?  I tell the OnStar lady – there is a tow truck sitting right on the on ramp – can I use him.  She says something about not sending him --- we decide better to have the tow truck that is here get us off the road, than wait.  So we flag the guy over and he hooks us up….and tows us off the next exit --- ALL FIVE OF US STILL IN THE CAR!  There is a video of this…let me tell you what it consists of …. Me uttering repeatedly "omg we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die"…..we didn't die. 

The tow man takes us to a car rental place around the corner – they have no cars.  Crap.  I go back out – and tell the tow truck driver.  He says there are more rental places around the corner – he will take us.  I ask the angel in the tow truck his name…..his name…..is Joseph.  (I am not making that up folks – our angel of the day was Joseph -  Moonlight karma.)  So we go around the corner……all five of us in the truck being towed…..again.

We hit two more car rental places – no cars.  So, now we go back to Josef and the car.  Buzz and Gina have taken over dealing with ..o find us a local GM dealer – they have no cars.  Where in the hell are all the cars?  So, our angel Joseph says – that he can't tow us in the car any further, but if two of us want to hop in the truck with him, and three want to wait in McDonald's he'll take us to another rental place…..so SusieQ and I go with Joseph – and yes, thank you GOD we find a place with a rental car….A mini van.  We'll take it – hell if it had been a Yugo, we'd have taken it!!!  

I follow the tow truck back to McDonald's – we pick up the rest of the crew, and we go to the car dealer.  We sign in the truck – we pay the tow truck driver and we give him something special – a postcard with Moonlight information and OUR Josef on it!  We also gave him a Moonlight pin.  Yes, folks we were broke down – but we were still saving Moonlight.

So – we are on our way to Central Park.  YAY…..uh – crap.  Rental car – does not have a GPS.  Uh oh.  Wait – we're saved…Buzz's phone does a mappy thingy…YAY….uh – crap…her battery is about to die.  So we look it up, jot down the directions on a business card and we're good……eventually we make it to Columbus Circle….make a few wrong turns trying to find a close parking garage…and come to the consensus the next sign that says "park"….we're PARKING!  We find a garage – load ourselves up like pack mules and head to Central Park.  When we turn around to walk out of the garage we notice……we're parked directly across from the Time Warner building!!!  What is up with Moonlight coincidences today!

After a few phone calls – and dodging a few cabs – we get across the circle and find our group.  What a group it is!  We are two hours late – but there are about 40 people there.  More have come and gone – and more come and go through out the day. 

Remember that pesky permit issue – we had to be careful about permits and not ending up in the pokey……..well the park police actually asked to see our permit!   Holy hell…thank you God we are smart enough to get permits for this thing!!! 

We sang, we cheered, we talked, and we laughed.  We talked to passersby and we met with Moonlight fans who didn't know the show had been cancelled – we got them up to speed and enlisted them in the fight.

We played Save Moonlight Frisbee – with real "Save Moonlight Frisbees"!  We drank from Save Moonlight cups.  Pins, ribbons, postcards – you name we had it.

We took pictures – lots and lots of pictures.  We listened to Moonlight Music.  Oh, let me mention here….If Apple ever wanted to do a commercial for the I-pod video or Touch – do it at a Moonlight gathering…..I am not exaggerating to say there were at least 30 I-pods in the bunch.  There wasn't a Moonlight song we didn't have – even the one Harry said that he wanted to use, but "those who shall not be named" said no…for Fated to Pretend.  We had every episode – times at least 20.  And if there is a picture of Alex or Jason that we could not have produced that day….then that picture is in the possession of their mother, and has likely never been seen by the public eye!

I saw old faces and new faces, blood drive faces, and saw people come and go who just wanted to know what in the world we were doing!  Our resolve was strengthened – we talked about being tired, and even being frustrated……but no one was ready to say "I'm giving up".  The heart of a Moonlight fan never says die…..ever.

A group of us grabbed some blankies and headed off to a tree away from the main picnic and broke out the cigars in honor of our Moonlight boys.  The group under the tree grew…the amount of cigar smoke in the air grew…..my my my what a bad habit we Moonlight fans seem to have developed. 

Our picnic began to wrap up a little after four as the storm clouds moved in.  We said our goodbyes, which is always hard, and took probably about another 45 minutes.  We hiked off in our different directions – our group headed toward Columbus Circle…..there was a crack, there was a boom…….and the heavens once again began to cry for Moonlight.  (What the hell is it with Moonlight and RAIN?????)  By the time we reached Columbus Circle it is pouring!!!!!  So what's a Moonlight fan to do……we stop and take a picture of course.  Then we laugh, we talk about Moonlight, we talked about being wet (we won't get into that conversation – but ladies…we were talking Moonlight so you know where that conversation went!)……and then we laugh some more.  By the time we reach the parking garage we are drenched.

Our little ragtag group finally collects our rental Mini-van from the parking attendant, retrieve the directions scribbled on the business card……and decide to follow them backwards to get out of the city.  While an excellent theory…..it doesn't work in practical application!  We none the less find out back to the right street to take us back to the George Washington Bridge and back into New Jersey.  

We're soaking wet and exhausted – but still laughing and having a good time.  Gina and Nikki break out the laptops – one watches Sonata and the other finishes a Fic.  We had more techno-gizom stuff in that car that most well stock Best Buys keep in inventory on a daily basis……I believe we had…..3 laptops, 5 I-pods, 3 I-pod speaker systems, 2 I-pod connectors for the car, 3 (maybe 4) digital video cameras, 5 cameras, 6 cell phones, at least one portable DVD player, and some sort of plug in converter that went into the cigarette lighter and was basically a plug strip!!!   (Hey CBS – guess what….Moonlight fans are techno geeks…..we like our toys and aren't afraid to spend our money….oh wait, but we're not important.  Okay, I admit it – I'm bitter!)

So we drive along – buzzing like a mobile command post for the CIA  - and I realize we need gas.  We hop off the highway in a little town called Totowa, New Jersey.  Now for those not "up" on New Jersey – all gas in Jersey is Full-service.  So, the nice young man puts the gas in our car, and we pull away from the pump.  As we are about to turn out of the driveway SusieQ says from the third row…."what is that light on the dashboard?"  I look down and it's the engine light and I see the temperature gauge is pegged to HOT….no way, this cannot be happening.  So, we get out……we walk around the front of the car……and see all the antifreeze running down the asphalt.  

Seriously??  A second dead car???  Yes, a SECOND dead car.  I called the rental company – who tells me to put water in it and drive it back to their office.  Uh yeah – I don't think so Skippy!  I inform them – politely (at least I was trying to be polite) that I was not moving this car and risking a highway breakdown.  I wanted them to send me another car.  They reluctantly agree.

So now we have an hour to kill – in the parking lot of the Shell gas station in Totowa, NJ!!  We made the best of it.  We made silly signs – such as:

(This one was thanks to Buzz….)

3 plant tickets to New York = $1500

(Bonus – three free flight delays!)

2 Broken down vehicles

(Bonues – Car repairs, rental fees, and gas = $$$$$$$)

5 Moonlight Fans from 5 different States fighting for what they believe in = Priceless

It's all worth it for a Moonlight Season Two!

And

"We'll come back when you call us….(even if we have to push the car!!!)

We made videos, took pictures, and shared Moonlight with the wonderful gas station attendant Shawn.  We even left him with a Save Moonlight Frisbee, a cup, a pin, and a card with all the Save Moonlight information.  (Again – down but not out – Moonlight fans aren't going to waste an opportunity to garner support for our cause!)

After an hour or so – the gentleman from the car rental place shows up with a car – we unload everything from our presently disable vehicle….put it in the driveable vehicle and head out for Jess' house.

We order pizza on the road to be waiting when we get back.  We share a meal, and another a cigar – I print off some mapquest directions and head for home….it's now around 10pm!

The drive home took forever – New Jersey evidently has something against street lights!  Heck – I got lost getting off Maze Mountain and had to call Jess' boyfriend to get me back to the main road.  The drive was complicated by pitch black roads, lightly falling rain and poor street signs…….eventually I saw a road that I knew went into Pennsylvania and just got on it!!!  I figured sooner or later I would find my way home!!!

Find my way home I did – I crawled into my own bed at 12:30am!  A 19 hour Moonlight Day!! 

It was a great day – because it brought the people out in support of Moonlight.  There is something about being together that makes the pain of cancellation and the stresses of the fight seem not so bad.  We're not ready to close the door on Moonlight just yet – actually we will never be ready!!  This is the show that no one gave a chance – it was treated poorly by the network and never allowed to find it's stride on television.  Everyone who sees an episode is hooked – but so many people never even knew it was on!  CBS staked it from the get go……and the injustice of that just rings to the core of Moonlight fans across the country.  If Moonlight had failed because it just "failed" that would be one thing – but we know better than that.  It's that knowledge that gives us the push we need to fight on!  

(If you want to check out the reports on the other rallies check out Moonlightline.com forums, under Save Moonlight, Local/ National Rallies…everyone wrote an update.  We got some great mainstream press and met a lot of people who hadn't known the show was cancelled, as well as turned many new potential viewers.)