Welcome to the second (now) annual Mutant Summit! In June of 2001, Head Mutant Justin left the relative safety of Detroit to embark on a journey that would land him in a country of French-speakers, loonies and toonies, and utter insanity: Vancouver, Canada. PoolMan (Sean) took Justin under his wing to show him around, and a number of days passed in the blink of an eye. Here is our photo journal of the trip, presented with numerous comments for your viewing pleasure. [The picture above is of the Canadian flag flying off a fairy (yes, that's how it was spelled, not "ferry") we took across the bay]

PoolMan: The dirty, dirty looks I got while holding this sign in a public place were something else. Women and men alike took a nice wiiiiiiide path around the sicko with the "banana" sign. Ironically enough, the only person who seemed to find it funny was a nun. Sadly, I couldn't wait by the gate, though, this was taken at the baggage claim, which meant everyone congregating on the far side of the luggage return.

Justin: Here's Sean meeting me at Vancouver Int'l Airport. As always, his tremendous height and facial hair made me whimper and duck in fear for his wrath. But soon we shook hands, said a Simpson quote or two, and began our adventure. Notice that Sean has grown out a full beard since last year (The Goatee Era). Let me also say that it took me, Brainiac, five minutes to figure out that only passengers were allowed near the gates. I thought Sean had abandoned me, and it was a sad moment.

Justin: Here I am in Sean's Fudd hat. We are still not sure what a Fudd hat is, but it has to do something with being Canadian and being weird. I have this Popeye expression on my face that will undoubtably scare small children.

PoolMan: Now this is a keeper for me, personally. The hat that J's wearing is about twenty years old, and has been worn by at least four Freddy Fudds (me included). It's literally a well known piece of Vancouver history. Too bad there wasn't a parade while Justin was in town, or we would have made him honourary leader. If you're interested in the Fudds, you can see our website at http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/freddyfuddpucker/. It's not a great site, but I hope to soup it up in the next while. (be sure to check out our Christmas party photos... some revealing shots of me) Sadly, I was going to have Justin bless my Fudd Mop (which goes with the hat), but I totally forgot. Damn!

PoolMan: One thing I learned at the first Mutant Summit; I'm not very photogenic. I hate pictures taken of me when I'm not ready, and this is a prime example. It's my best impression of a cranky, overweight, New York taxi driver. Let's move on.

Justin: Sean driving his car, and me waving a flashing camera in his face in an attempt to get him to drive off a bridge and crash to our deaths. That would have made a cool picture. Sean looks pissed here, but I'm sure he's just concentrating hard on the road. We spent a lot of time driving around, but the scenery was always gorgeous, and the conversation never lacked (particularly when we started singing various Simpsons and showtunes songs).