Flashback: October 2000
I just turned 19, was home studying and living off my dad's ATM card. I decided to get a new comic and since nothing new was happening with the X-universe at the time (they had just wrapped up "The Twelve" storyline and introduced a new roster several months prior), I decided to give another team book a check. I walk up to Filbar's Robinson's Galleria and saw the cover to Avengers vol. 3 no. 34 with Count Nefaria in it. I remembered there was an Avengers/Thunderbolts crossover at the time. I asked if I can check it out and the lady behind the counter hands me the comic. Lo and behold! I just flipped the cover and immediately I wanted to buy it! The art was amazing and I saw more than a dozen characters crammed into one panel! At the time, I wasn't familiar with George Perez yet and I had thought Joe Madureira did the best art ever! So I got the book, read it and immediately the voices in my head started talking:
"Must get next issue!"
"No! The reason you got the book was the art and no. 34 was George's last issue"
"But I wanna see more characters"
"Once you start monthly, you can never turn back! Heck, you just get X-books if there are big crossover storylines"
"Fine! I'll only collect the comic books - it's just one title anyway unlike the X-books! I promise not to go beyond the comics!"

Flashforward: October 2006
I just turned 25, was in great company among fellow geeks and living off my payroll ATM account. I had just gotten myself the first of many forays into crossing the threshold beyond the comic books - Dorling-Kindersley's The Ultimate Guide to the Avengers. Exactly a year later (give or take a few days), despite the schizophrenic conversation I had with the angel and demon on my shoulder 7 years ago, not only had my Avengers comics almost filled up an entire comic box even if they had gone to branch out into other titles, my collection now includes action figures, posters, trade paperbacks, hard covers, a collector's edition VS System TCG deck, the complete Avengers Minimates, DVDs and VCDs. 

Fandom Café is a project by members of the New Worlds Alliance, aka The NWA, an umbrella organization of groups that, collectively, organizes the annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention in the Philippines. The venue has been adopted as the Headquarters of the NWA, and will also cater to other related fandoms.

Our Mission: To create a venue catering to the needs of local television, movie and literary fandom communities; a haven for discovery and celebration of their hobbies and interests, catering to a steadily growing number of patrons who seek alternative venues for entertainment, social interaction and activities; it will be for the fan, a sanctuary where his own uniqueness, his interests and his passions are put first; a home away from home.

Fandom Café is located at Unit G-09 Regalia Park Towers, 150 P. Tuazon St., Cubao Q.C.. Click here for a map to the place. You may also contact us at telephone no. 439-65-86 or email at info@fandomcafe.com. See you soon!

Start:	Aug 11, '07 6:00p
Location:	Serendra

5th Gathering and Book Discussion
A Different Bookstore
Serendra
6 PM
Aug 11, Saturday

Aug. 6, 2007
12:20pm

This morning, I was watching what I presume is an old episode of the Ellen Degeneres Show on Star World. Her guest was Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, Roswell) who was talking about how she used to have a crush on Grey's co-star Patrick Dempsey and now she's working with him. I guess everyone has such stories.

My recent one happened a week ago.

It all started in 2000 when I got hooked on "The Avengers" (the comic books, not the '60's British TV show turned '90's American movie).Anyway, I was turned into a major fan and started collecting anything related to the comics. At some point, my brother brought home a copy of MTV Ink magazine. Lo and behold! There was an article there about "The Avengers" and their DC counterpart, the JLA, and what-was-at-the-time the upcoming Avengers/JLA crossover.  God bless Kurt Busiek and George Perez! The article and its accompanying artwork was done by someone by the name of Oliver Pulumbarit. I cut out that article and up until now, it's inserted in my Avengers folder at home.

Every now and then, I flip open that folder and marvel (pardon the pun) at Oliver's artwork. I actually spend time naming the Avengers he had drawn in there. I still do it until now.

Last March, I decided to form a Friendster group about... what else? The Avengers. I invited everyone on Friendster who listed "The Avengers" among their favorite books and called the group "Avengers Mansion Philippines".

*Can you honestly say you don't see where I'm going with this?*

I discovered Oliver on Friendster because of the invites. Thankfully, he accepted and joined the group. I sent him a message about how I kept the clipping and he responded with a link to his blog where an updated, higher resolution version of the same image was posted. I was in fanboy heaven! Having taken out the JLA using Photoshop, Oliver's Avengers now sits as a wallpaper on my desktop PC and my Palm E2!

*On a similar note, I've had a letter I sent to Marvel printed on Kurt Busiek's farewell issue and I've had one of my X-men comics signed by current New Avengers artist Leinil Yu!*

Having visited his blog, I found out that Oliver was actually at New Worlds: Transformed - the event me and my friends at the New Worlds Alliance organized. I responded to his blog and told him had I known, I could've met him. Small world! He was there to support his friend Benedict who I knew from Alec - both are part of Cybertron Phils.  Ben was cosplaying as Bumblebee (for the nth time). Oliver responded by saying he's sure we'll meet one of these days. That was three weeks ago.

Talk about surreal. Two weeks later, I was at a Fandom Inc. meeting at Fandom Cafe - the dream me and my friends at the NWA built. Ben dropped by to pick up a few prizes for winning 3rd place in the Cosplay competition and he brings along who else? Oliver! The heart of the geek boy in me started racing double-time! I mean, here I was shaking hands and talking to the person whose article and artwork I cut up years ago! I felt exactly the same way in that minute or so when I was having Leinil sign my book. I didn't know where to begin shooting my mouth off with geeky references to this and that!

Nevertheless I tried to play it cool.

*Sighs*

It's a small world after all!

The Official Website of the Philippines' Band of Jordanites

Hiding a love for Star Trek? Is there no-one who shares your enthusiasm for Star Wars? Can nobody understand what you mean when you talk about the Scoobies and Mr. Pointy?

We know what you're talking about.

We are here, and we are legion.