Vancouver, British Columbia - Head Judge report
Hello and welcome to Feature Friday. As many of you know, I spent last weekend head judging Grand Prix Vancouver—my first time wearing the red and black stripes. I had a great time, and I've got a lot to think about and share about the event. This week, however, I don't have time to do the event justice, plus it's Leap Day, so I'm going to share some stories about my trip to Vancouver and the events that surrounded the tournament.

I've spent some time in Vancouver before and I really like it. It's got great scenery (any city with both large bodies of water and mountains visible from downtown is okay by me), great food, and great people. I haven't had a proper visit for several years (though I did spend an unexpected night there, coming down with the flu, returning from France in 2006) despite having a number of good friends that live there. So beyond my excitement about the tournament, I had plenty to look forward to in my time before and after the tournament.

I often like to take the train when travelling in the Northwest, but it wasn't really practical this time. The Seattle - Vancouver leg is apparently very pretty, but the train only runs once a day, and it leaves at 7 AM. So I flew. It's a fine little flight, about 75 minutes, flying low over Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Seattle, so there's plenty to look at.

I had my first excitement as the plane was getting close to Vancouver, when they handed out customs forms. One of the items asked whether I had any food. As it happened, a good friend had packed me a little care package of snacks for the tournament (I'd mentioned in the past that I tend to have little time or access to good food when running tournaments). I had a rough idea what was in it—crackers, energy bars, etc—but in an attempt to maximize my enjoyment, I'd avoided looking at it too closely, so I didn't know if there was any fresh fruit or other obvious international contraband. I checked "Yes" and hoped for the best.

Vancouver's customs area is a little different from some I've been in: you don't pick up your checked luggage until after you wade through the lines to speak to a customs agent. The woman I spoke to asked what kind of food I had. "Snacks... crackers... dried fruit. Nothing perishable," I told her, hoping that I was speaking accurately. She made a bunch of red marks on the form, handed it back to me, and dismissed me somewhat curtly. I was to get my bag, and hand the form off to attendants at the exit of the customs area, where I imagine they segregate people for searches of the simple and thorough varieties.

I collected my checked bag, which contained my contraband, used the restroom, and found a bench in a discrete location. I located the care package (an REI waist pack), opened the zipper, and found sesame crackers, energy bars, an Ensure drink... and three fresh kumquats.

Crap.

I looked around. There was a garbage can about 10 meters away. I didn't see any customs officers or (perhaps more importantly) security cameras. I carefully palmed the kumquats, closed up my bags, and sidled past the trashcan, sliding the fruit discreetly into the bin.

I rolled up to the exit line, and handed my customs form to the guard, who waved me on. I was free!

You don't get to be head judge of a Grand Prix without being careful, let me promise you.

Some readers my know of my involvement with Free Geek, a Portland-area nonprofit that does technology reuse and recycling. I'm currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors. It's a fantastic organization. We're focussed on the Portland metro region, but one of the things we do is help other groups start similar projects. If they're sufficiently like-minded in their approach—we're strong proponents of open-source software and we run by consensus—they're allowed to use the Free Geek name.

On Friday, my partner Laurel (one of the first FG employees and a fellow Board member) and I went to visit Free Geek Vancouver. They're one of the younger members of the FG family, but they're doing something right. This was my first visit. We found the location, wandered in, and immediately found ourselves face-to-face with a CBC camera crew working on a story.

They had the same gradual order-into-chaos-into-order feeling that the local Free Geek does, and the same open-arms approach to volunteers and people who come to learn. I was pleased as punch to have dropped by.

If you're interested in the Free Geek concept, here's a list of all current FG groups.

Friday evening I had a meeting with my team leads, as well as some L3s I was putting on special assignment. After our meeting, we went to a local brewpub called Steamworks (verdict: acceptable) where an apparent minor act of God served to get our party of twelve into a table.

On the way back to the tournament site we ran into the tailings of a flash mob: several hundred pirates crossing the street. I'm sure there's a punchline there somewhere, but I'll leave it up to you. Turns out that Laurel and some of my Vancouver friends had attended this pirate ferry ride to see a band we know. The pictures I've seen are best described as riotous. During their brief layover in North Vancouver, my friends were refused service at a bar with the line (I am not making this up) "We don't serve pirates here."

Life is hard for pirates these days.

Saturday's waking free time was not much longer than dinner, at a fine downtown sushi joint called Yoshi's. The toro was probably the best I have ever had, including my trip to PT Nagoya a couple years ago. I can still taste it.

Sunday was slightly unusual in that we had a judge dinner, a treat usually reserved for Pro Tours (where the schedule is often a little more amenable). Kudos to organizer (and top-notch Level 4 judge) Jason Ness! I got to make my first congratulatory head judge speech, which felt good. The judges earned every bit of praise I gave them.

Sunday night, Laurel headed back to Portland. I tried to play my first EDH game of the weekend in the hotel bar, but the staff informed us that it wasn't allowed, as "[they] have standards." Thanks guys!

Monday morning I had a few hours to myself, and I sat in my room and did nothing. After I turned the heating fan off, it was almost perfectly quiet, which was exactly what I was after on the tail end of a whirlwind weekend.

Next week I'll catch you up on some actual GP Vancouver content. Until then, keep shufflin'.