Dec 7, 1941.  Pearl Harbor Day.  A day that will be remembered in history as the day that America nearly lost the war, before even entering it.  Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto commented that he was afraid they "woke the sleeping Dragon".

Dec 7, 2007.  Mutant Enemy Day.  A day that will be remembered in history as the day the Mutants and the Enemies united with the Writers.  Fans, Actors, and Gods of Writing worked together in uniting against the diabolical networks.  The Writers Strike had been steadily losing steam.  News agencies had quit even so much as commenting on it, and it seemed the issue might fizzle entirely.  The Network Dragon slumbered.  That was before December 7, 2007 : Mutant Enemy Day.  Around 400 people picketed outside the offices of Fox studios.  ELiza Dushku, Joss Whedon, Amy Acker, Marti Noxon, The One True B!X, David Fury, The Other Jim, Mike from Texas, RavenU, Adam, Juliet Landau, J August Richard, Doug Petrie, Brett Mathews, Amy (the extra), Felicia Day, Jane Espenson, ...No, I'm not going to list all 400 (note, don't try googling all these names...some are just folks).  But the crowd attracted attention.  It attracted the attention of Sarah Michelle Gellar Prinze who brought 1,000 donuts.  It attracted the attention of a number of news agencies, who showed up and did spontaneous interviews.  It attracted the attention of the network dragon. In the words of Admiral Yamamoto, "we have woke the sleeping dragon."  In the words of Angel, from Season 5, series finale, "I kind of want to slay the Dragon."  To the few passersby who shouted out "go back to work" and the many bloggers who argue that the strike should be over, a concession was made and the dollar amount isn't worth fighting over.  I'd just like to point out that the actors, who are in the same industry and are also out of work seem to be supporting the writers on this one.

Okay enough lead in, here's what you missed.

We arrived around 7:30 and met the one guy who beat us there, Vincent.  We ate morning muffins together and discussed who we hoped to meet...he and Monique (my wife) had both hoped to meet the same people.  So throughout the day whenever they saw each other they would throw a quick strategy meet,
"Hey did you see ... ?"
"Yeah, I got a picture, did you?"
"Yeah!" High Five.  (more on the High five's later.)
Kazumi, one of our dear friends from SoCal soon joined us and carried our extra picket sign for us.  Another dear friend, Mike from Texas arrived soon after.  We spend much of our day with Kazumi, and Mike but her day seemed to be taken up with Camden Toy.  I think they walked the picket line together for about 20 laps.  Then our oldest, Mikey walked another four with him.  I wonder if Camden even had a chance to meet anybody else.  He is the first star we met at Monique's first convention, and well he's practically family now.  (In fact my youngest had a dream about him on the way home...well sort of.  He dreamed of the Gentlemen "who's heads explode" and he asked us how Camden's head exploded.  Too bad he didn't ask Camden that while we were there.)  Camden remains one of the friendliest most appreciative of famous people.  We just love that guy.  Mike from Texas, spent many laps in tow with Michael Fairman (Nishka).  Monique accompanied them a lap or two and found that in person Mr Fairman is VERY different from the torturing murderous character her portrayed on Firefly.

Adam, (The hat), gathered all the browncoats together at the park to make the journey up to fox studios to get their signs.  Luckily, our signs were already made, and became rather famous throughout the day.  We presented one of them to Joss Whedon at the end of the day and he was thrilled to take it.  Also in the group, Mcookies was handing out plastic "Grrr, Arrgh" guys.  QuarterGal was handing out fancy scarves, (Monique got a black one, thanks Qg), Jewelsong was handing out lyrics to the strke song, sung to the Jaynestown tune.  Her and Cedric from the Bedlam Bards walked the line serenading us all most of the day.  Great fun.  We handed out muffins and donuts before the crowd got to large for us to accomodate.

Harry Groener (Mayor Wilkins) was one of the first on the scene.  We let him know we thought he was one of the best big bads ever, which brought a grin to his face.  At least I think it did.  It's kind of hard to tell because he had a big grin on his face pretty much the whole time he was there.  He let us know that he was a fan before he joined the cast, and he's still a fan today and he frequently goes back and rewatches episodes (his favorites are any he was in).

Joss Whedon himself was there.  We waited patiently in a small line for our chance for a quick picture while he was in an interview.  While we were waiting Morena Baccarin arrived...so we stepped out of line for Joss and asked Morena for a picture.  She was very gracious probably because we hadn't got to the part of the day where my son hit her in the face with his picket sign yet.  (more on that later). 

Then we returned to Joss Whedon. We arrived just as the interview was ending, and he was trying to make his way to the soon to form picket line, so of course we stopped him.  He stooped down and pulled my boys to him on either side, and we got a picture.  Then he started trying to make his way to the line and my 6 year old, Riley, showed him his picket sign.  (We had made them ourselves).  The sign said Equality Now for Writers.  Joss thanked them for bringing that saying that he could not wear his Equality Now hat to this, so it was nice to have them do it for him.  With considerable effort I managed to drag the boys away, so Joss could grab a sign and lead the way across to the picket line.  Of course he lead.  After all, as Joss himself said, "Mutant Enemy Day is all about ME."

Felicia Day, potential slayer Vi was one of the first I saw walking amongst us.  After about seven laps and 3 times the line got extended my 6 year old got tired of walking and stepped out at the end of the line.  My eight year old, Ronan was still raring to go, but I wasnt going to let him go alone, so I let him stand at the end of the line where he held up his sign to "high five" other picketers.  Many of them got in the spirit high fiving him as they went past.  This went well until Morena walked by, without a sign, and my son reached out to high five her.  I believe she got her hand up in time to avoid contact with her face but I figured that was a good time to stop the practice, so I pulled on his leash and brought him back from the crowd.  The high five craze continued throughout the day as many fans high fived each other as they passed in line.

My wife who was working the crowd got to spend considerable time with Juliet Landau who was very excited about a film she just finished directing.  She told Juliet she was one of the most terrifying Buffy villians.  David Fury (standing nearby) quickly piped in, "and sexiest".  Juliet smiled and thanked him, and my wife thanked him also as she might have forgotten that adjective on her own.  Juliet likes directing and acting but could not decide which she liked better.  Monique made sure to let Juliet know that Spike and Drusilla belonged together and Buffy never deserved him.  Which sent Juliet into nods of agreement and David into fits of laughter.  Not sure whether he agreed, disagreed, or was simply amused that someone cared that much about fictional characters. 

Ron Glass was on a tight time table.  He kept saying "I got to go", but he kept seeing someone else he wanted to talk with and stayed.  He has an infectious grin, it's impossible to be around him and not be in a good mood.  He said the cruise was just the right amount of time, he had a blast.  After my wife (Monique) moved on to talk to others she saw Ron walking around about 5 more times, and she kept saying "Ron don't you have to leave?"  He kept smiling in all seriousness and agreeing, "Yeah, I really got to go. ... one more time."  Finally on his last trip around he was with Nathan Fillion and he caught her eye and winked a farewell.

Amy Acker is so cute.  she actually seems shy in real life.  We were so thrilled to meet her she walked among the crowd holding her sign (Which said "Joss fans support the writers").  She seemed happy every time I saw her, another frequent grinner.  Maybe even a giggler.  she has that look about her but we didn't get close enough to confirm.

Ronan met Joss Whedon at comiccon this year and gave him a comic book he had written himself.  Ronan made part 2 of the comic for Mutant Enemy Day and as he was walking through the line he saw Joss coming the other direction and he got all excited and tried to manuver into position and held his comic book out for Joss, but Joss was too deep in conversation to notice. Finally at the last minute when all hope seemed lost, Nicolas Brendon reached out and grabbed the comic and said, "Hey Joss, this kid is trying to give you something."

Nicolas Brendon was entertaining people, and conducting interviews.  He spent much of his time with the actors and writers he was familiar with, but was very friendly when approached.  My boys were excited to meet "Xander".  When he was getting ready to leave, the boys kept calling out "Xander, Xander, Xander...and Monique kept telling them.  "No boys, his name is Nick." So they changed thier impromptu chant to "Hi Nic-Xander, Hi Nic-Xander,..."  He patted one of them on the head.  I am pretty confident that he was relieved when the light on the street sign changed to green, so he could walk away. LOL.

J August Richards.  This guy has some serious energy.  Soon after he arrived he went into the center area of the picket line and started doing a kind of dancing strut that looked like a cross between mashing, and Superman's take off routine, and he shouted something to the effect of "lets get this party on".  He was very personable and really enjoyed meeting people.  I saw him standing next to David Fury talking and I manuevered in to say hi.  They were talking about the particulars of the strike, and David was saying he picks Dec 16th as "Dead Day".  He said if it's not resolved by then it won't be in time for new pilots to be written, which means....Okay I kinda got lost in the jargon here, but the end result was...the studios will be costing themselves billions of dollars in advertising just to punish the writers.  My wife came by and asked J for a picture.  We made it a group thing she stood with both J, and David and I took the picture.  Soon after J. commented that he better go walk the crowd or else he would just be "some asshole that came just to hang out with his friends."  David commented that he should leave his sunglasses on so he could still keep a little bit of an "asshole vibe".  J. just smiled, manuevered his shades into position and entered the crowd.

The Feldman twins were impressed with Monique's ability to distinguish them from each other.  She said "Did you have fun on your honeymoon?" to Rafael.  They both seemed geniunely happy that she got it right.  Happy enough that a little later on when they were talking with Summer Glau and she walked by, and asked if she could get a picture.  The Feldmans piped in, "sure" and moved aside for her.  (She made it a point to get Summer's permission also)  After the picture, our boys showed up out of nowhere and Summer posed again.  Monique told our boys that this is Summer who is going to be in the Sarah Connor Chronicles.  They gave her a blank look.  "She's going to be the Terminator."  My eight year old (the "high fiver") got all excited and said "Really?" which brought a smile to Summer's lips.

Nathan Fillion was there.  He was obviously sick, but he was there anyway, doing his part, mingling and such.  He posed for a picture with us, and Ronan handed over a "Serenity" necklace that we had made for Nathan a year earlier for the "Flanvention" convention that never materialized.  It was good to finally get it into the hands it was intended for.  Nathan was thrilled.

William Mapother, (best known for his role as Ethan on Lost...which David Fury wrote for awhile), walked among us.  He was on one of Tim Minear's short-lived shows, The Inside.  Speaking of Tim. This was one of my highlights of the weekend.  I finally set right a wrong I had done at the Backup Bash last year.  I was not at the Bash myself but Monique was, and she arranged to let me speak with Tim on the phone.  I said something to the effect, "With all the shows, you have created that have been cancelled, how do you gp on?"  He started telling everyone. "Hey this guy says I should just give up and die."  So at the strike he was standing on the side talking to Nathan Fillion and I approached them both and waited my turn.  They finished their topic and Nathan looked at me expectantly.  "Uh, actually, do you have a minute Tim?"  It was awesome.  Tim upstaged Nathan.  Tim seemed pleased.  Nathan seemed relieved (poor sick guy), and I started out..."So I kind of feel responsible for the cancellatioon of Drive."  I told him who I was, and he said. "So it's your fault!"  Before we could dwell on the blame issue for too long, I said "what I meant to say was with the networks cancelling so many shows that fans like do you see an opportunity for alternatives such as Direct to DVD?"  "Yeah, Definately." He agreed.  "That's what this whole strike is about.  The networks don't want to have to include us in the ancillary markets, but the industry is heading that way.  Maybe not DVD, but internet, podcasts, ... The networks are afraid of where this might go."  While we were talking Monique came up to take our picture and she let Tim know how I have been feeling responsible for Drive being cancelled this whole time.  He said something about my being that voice from Canada in the background.  I did not know what that meant, so I just agreed, and backed away.  He said, "well you weren't wrong", which I took to mean "Drive really did get cancelled."

Jane Espenson was walking around, and Monique and Ronan sidled up to her for some conversation.  Ronan asked who she was, so Monique told him that she was a writer who wrote for Buffy and now writes for Battlestar Galactica.  Ronan got excited and said "Did you write Go Fish?"  A little history here.  Ronan asked me once what the worst Buffy show ever was.  I told him I thought it might be "Go Fish".  He has been fascintated with it ever since.  Jane said "No, I don't think I was with Mutant Enemy then.", to which Ronan replied.  "Oh. .. So did you write, Go Fish?"  My wife trying to be helpul picked one of her favorite episodes, "Didn't you write Tabula Rasa?"   Jane said, "No, I didn't write that one either...I might have done some re-writes of it".  So they spent a half a lap trying to rememeber one that Jane had written, and Jane couldn't name one.  She ended up, with "well I know they were good ones."  She then asked if our little ones had a hard time with the sex and the violence on Buffy.  We told her the sex stuff went over their heads, and the violence, didn't seem to effect them.  They got just as involved in the characters and thier interactions as we did.

Still More Joss Whedon.  Ronan kept manuvering closer and closer to Joss, and at one point a stranger from the crowd noticed Ronan and said "hey kid how long have you been trying to talk to Joss.  "2 Minutes" Ronan answered.  "Well don't just walk around all day waiting," the stranger advised him...then the guy stepped forward and said, "Hey Joss!" We waited in anticipation for the guy to point out Ronans patience and give the floor over to  him.  Instead the guy asked his own question.  .. When the guy finished he parted with "oh yeah, and this kid wants to talk to you."  Joss looked at Ronan and Ronan said, "I have been waiting for 3 minutes."  The bulk of thier conversation will remain forever between them, because just then a throng of picketers got between Joss and Ronan, and his mom so she could not hear the rest.  Ronan tells us that Joss told him he read the first comic and liked it a lot but had not had a chance to read the second one yet.  When the throng moved on, Monique moved up to them just in time for another stranger to reach out and touch the back of Joss' hair.  Joss turned and looked at her strangely.  "It wasn't me." she protested.  Then the guy moved in,"I just like to touch hair." He said.  He spoke with Joss for a few minutes then moved on.  Joss looked over at Monique and said, "We should think up a nickname for that ... hair-toucher guy."  She told him how he had really inspired Ronan with his Buffy comics.  He always like Buffy, but since the comic books started Ronan has been writing seriously a comic a day.  She told him she was really looking forward to Doll house.  He agreed and said that he really missed tv.  She brought up how sad she was that Doll House might never make it to tv, and he just agreed.  Then she asked doesn't it all come down to a couple million dollars, and arent' they networks losing more than that by not agreeing.  and he said, yes, but its really not about money, its about power.  (Tim and David went into similar details with me).  To summarize Joss is confident that no agreement will be reached and that everyone will suffer.  He said the studios are being "diabolacol".  They continued on together for another half lap with her singing his many praises, before she moved on to let someone else have a turn.

Monique's main goal for the day, (and probably Vincent's too) was to meet Eliza Dushku, who arrived towards the end of the day.  She is so incredibly beautiful.  She posed for a picture on the condition that she got to hold one of our picket signs.  We had to think about it, but in the end we agreed.  Monique got to talk to her a little bit about Doll House, and let her know that we fully believed Faith was a way better slayer than Buffy.  She replied with something Faith like, "Right on"...Then she moved on to her other adoring fans.

I saw Alan Tudyk during the last half hour of the day.  He was talking with Nathan and Tim and really anyone else who went up to talk to him.  All the actors, and writers were very accepting and seemed very comofortable to be around their fellow fans.

Then we went to the picnic.  Tim Minear showed up breifly, Joss Whedon was there the entire time we were.  There was a small ampitheater nearby and Ronan decided he wanted to perform the Buffy musical.  He talked a couple people into getting on the stage and dancing while he sang.  Valerie and some of her friends I believe.  Then heady from that success Ronan decided to do it again, someone suggested that he sing for Joss Whedon.  So Ronan moved over to Joss, got right next to him...then shouted "HEY EVERYBODY, I'M ABOUT TO SING THE FIRST SONG FROM THE BUFFY MUSICAL."  ...  Joss slunk under a nearby picnic table trying to hide in embarrassment.  I looked at Ronan as if to ask "what was that?" and he shrugged and said just loud enough Joss could hear.  "What? mommy said to say it as loud as I could."  Then he ran down to the stage and sang his song. 

Our family just had the best day ever.  It was great seeing familiar faces and meeting fellow fans, and showing support for scripted television.  We were all quite touched when we read the words of Adam, Strike captain for Mutant Enemy day, on the fans 4 writers forum : "I have to share something that Joss said to me.  I was telling him how we were careful to make sure we treated the event as a strike, and not a convention, and to remember that WE were here for THEM, rather than the other way around.  Joss told me that he came to the picket line with 4 sharpies in his pocket, and NEVER HAD TO PULL THEM OUT ONCE!  "I am so proud of everyone for thier passion and thier restraint.  There were so many famous people around whom we've all admired for so long, and everyone was on thier absolute best behavior!  Joss said his people noticed this, and felt very comfortable and enjoyed themselves immensely."

So we just have one question.  When's Mutant Enemy Day 2?

Mutant Enemy Day Pics

Prophecy Girl Buffy - SECOND CHANCE