That funny, familiar, never-forgotten feeling....

It's been nearly forty years of passionate fandom-ising and the feelings are as strong as ever!

I'm referring to that initial flush of excitement when realisation hits that fandom has bitten you and you're therafter going to be:
1) checking up on every little bit of information you can get your hands on, whether from newspapers, magazines or (in this day and age) online through forums, websites and youtube.
2) acquiring every bit of related merchandise, be it DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, etc and of course spending a bit of a bomb...willingly. I've trawled bookshops, video shops and even ordered online for what I want.
3) totally exhilarated when you find stuff to add to your collection.
4) looking out for other similarly-obsessed fans to share the love.
5) having a great time sharing when you find said similarly-obsessed fans.

For some fandoms, the moment of realisation can be quite embedded in your memory but how long the mania lasts is variable. Certainly not all my 'crushes' have endured from the beginning till now. Some die out quickly; some stay strong. :)

I can remember the exact point in The Empire Strikes Back where I began crushing on Harrison Ford.
Yup, when he kissed Princess Leia in the closed confines of the Millennium Falcon after some cheeky remarks. That was a fandom which spanned many years till he got a midlife crisis of sorts, divorced his wife and started wearing an earring...and hooked up with Calista Flockhart. I've 'forgiven' him somewhat and now look back on this spell with great affection.

For Hugh Jackman, his character in Kate and Leopold really got to me and I still love him very much till this day,

For Ewan McGregor, his role in Moulin Rouge stole my heart. He was really handsome there and as I'm exteremely partial to a man who can sing, dance and act, the rest was history. Still like him very much but not as obsessed.

For Orlando Bloom, his Legolas was so beautiful that I watched all three LOTR movies thrice. But sadly, his subsequent movies (after Pirates of the Caribbean) did not interest me much and I'm quite over him now.

For Robert Pattinson, what else can I say but that the first Twilight movie blew me away when I watched and felt his incredible chemistry with Kristen Stewart. He was great in Remember Me but I'm still waiting to see how his career post-Twilight will continue. He is a nice chappie though, and I would love for him to have more success. More on my Twi-mania another time.

In the Star Trek universe, Robert Duncan MacNeill from Star Trek: Voyager was my hugest crush ever but it was one which developed slowly over the whole series. That will be a story for another post about Trek.

Notice these guys are all actors....and all Caucasian.

Don't blame me...I watched mostly Hollywood movies all these years although Chow Yun Fatt was quite my favourite when he was in Man In The Net. I still respect him alot although it's a pity his Hollywood movies have not been very memorable.

However, my present humongous fandom is now a Taiwanese guy, who's primarily a songwriter/singer but once again, it was his role in a movie which captivated and hooked me into a wonderful fandom which is still ongoing after more than a year.
He deserves an entire post or more...which I'll do another day. :)