Last month I was invited to the third annual Olapalooza in Calgary, Alberta.  For those who may be wondering, Olapalooza is a celebration of All that is Olav*.  It takes place on the first weekend in March that coincides with the anniversary of his mother's relief from intense labour pains, and invariably involves a story about Alberta's Premier, Ralph Klein, and various unprintable but delectable behind-the-scene goings-on.  It is an evening of games, friends and karaoke (the last being tolerated for the blessings that the first two provide).  Many were invited but only Olav's hard-core fans attended.  I had missed the one the year before because of illness, so I made sure to be in on the carload of people heading south on Saturday.

Before I begin I'd like to point out that, whereas Brad is my god, Olav I idolise.  He is charming, witty, well refined, and he has a healthy sense of self-appreciation that is encouraging to be around.  Plus he got to meet and play against Brad DeFruiter in Colorado, something I have not yet had the pleasure of doing.  (Of all my fellow co-conspirators and founding members of the Church of Brad, I have yet to meet Brad and Chris Duffy, our resident Satan.  Plans are pending.)  Olav said that Brad reminded him very much of his older brother Knut in mannerism, and I took that to be a sure sign that the Rokne clan and Brad's online off-shoot church go together like the idiomatic peas in a pod.

As any well-thought-out event should be, the first evening was set aside entirely for fun and meeting new friends.  We met up with David "Dr. Fünk" Hyttenrach, former Ambassador and all-around sweet guy, at a bar called Eddie Bo Dean's.  Those who played Star Trek CCG online in the late nineties will remember him as bat'telh (back in the days before Decipher and Star Trek canon had decided on a proper Klingon spelling for the weapon).  Dave is perhaps best known, however, for making decks specifically designed to beat Olav's.  He is quiet, observant, very smart, and Olav likes to boast.

The presents for Olapalooza (of course there were presents, what were you thinking?) included Garbage from David, which seemed to be a favourite band of Olav's, and other assorted CDs, and a blue silk shirt with a rather impressive dragon on front and back that could either replace or complement the ever-present black turtle-neck sweaters that adorn All that is Olav.  That gift from the Goulds.  Oh, and more black-turtleneck sweaters, a gift from his parents ("they finally got me something I can use!").  I hadn't brought a gift--Olav assured me my presence was gift enough--but the next day we stopped at Value Village and I saw a CD of Boston Pops performing the theme to Star Wars and bought it on a whim for him.  I can picture him driving down the street in summer with the top down and his (long?) blonde hair streaming in the wind and this song blaring loudly from the speakers--or maybe not (note to self; buy Olav a convertible for his next birthday--that's just too cool an image to pass up).

All that is Olav loves to karaoke.  The world is divided into two types of people--those who karaoke and those who do not.  I am the latter.  But watching Olav karaoke is fun.  He has his hair styled similar to Vanilla Ice, usually bleach blonde in colour--though it has been known to be pink, green and various shades of yellow--and he does a mean imitation of that rapper.  Sadly, Eddie Bo Dean's only has karaoke on certain nights and this was not one of them, so after a bit of refreshment we changed venue to the Wolfman's Pub.  A large table in the back accommodated us, right next to the stage; perfect for non-karaokers to crowd behind so they don't have to be called upon to perform.  It was right next to the speakers, but still was surprising that some people sang so softly they couldn't be heard over the music.  I had heard David could sing well and it's true--he performed a few nice folk songs from James Taylor.

Three of us from Edmonton spent the night at Knut's house.  Knut had made himself scarce so we partied into the wee small hours of the morning.  Olav showed us how to play Starfarers and we stayed up until 3:30 a.m. doing this and watching Robby Williams strip on the television (stripped himself of his clothes, his skin, his muscles, and symbolically his ego, until he was just bare bones--it was fascinating).  We were well familiar with Settlers and Seafarers, so this game was easy to get into.  Basically, you start at one end of the board and colonise outwards, bartering in various goods like ore and food, and you can stop at trading ports to earn special bonuses.  All that is Olav won, of course.

After 5 hours of sleep, we departed for breakfast and the second day of Olapalooza.  We had five people in two vehicles and experience had taught us that it was best to stick together.  We stuck together through the Value Village, through the streets of Calgary, and eventually through breakfast at Good Earth, which was awesome.  The rest of the morning went clockwork smooth and the tournament was a huge success.  I think there were 13 people at one point, but we finished with 12.

We built decks from 4 packs of back border Premier, three packages of Holodeck Adventures and one pack of Voyager.  In my opinion, it was the pack of Voyager that made all the difference in a lot of the decks.  For me, it provided some important dilemmas that made for powerful combos.  I was fortunate with my packs:  I pulled 24 dilemmas, including a Borg Ship, and used them all.

Olav tells me:

You got one full win,
One timed win,
One true tie,
One timed loss.

That's kind of lyrical.  I think I'll put it to music.

My first game was against a fellow named Brent who was an experienced player.  He sailed with a fully staffed ship right into my combo of Iconian Computer Weapon-Radioactive Garbage Scow-Borg Ship.  I had learned that long ago from my nephew, Ryan, and since I had pulled the cards, I used it.  Ryan is a firm believer in making people do some work for their destruction.  Two of my other games timed out (one of them with me being blown up by my own Borg Ship), and one game that I played against my friend Aaron, from Edmonton, was a true tie.  We drew out our draw decks with 55 points each.

These tournaments were special not only in that we were building decks from black border cards, but also because it coincided with Marcus Sheppard's birthday.  Not that anyone but Olav knew that, but it's a cool bit of trivia anyway.  All that is Olav won the tournament, of course.  Afterwards, Olav asked everyone to funnel some black border cards my way and I picked up some rares for my collection and lots of commons to build demo decks with.  Olapalooza Three ended with a wonderful pasta dinner at Chianti and getting to meet Knut Rokne (that's just such a cool name) in person and shake his hand.  A perfect end to a perfect weekend.  Thanks Olav.
 
 

Patty
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*That's the Canadian Olav, the one known as rock-kneed O-rock, the Pendari Champion, the number one player in ST sealed at the moment with a rating of 1958 (a very good year); not the Olav from Germany, although I'm sure he is a fine Olav in his own right.