[Icehouse] Trip Away rules questions

[Doug Orleans]

I'm having some problems interpreting the rules for Trip Away, one of
the Summer 2007 Ice Game Design Competition entries.  I asked some
questions on the game's talk page but haven't gotten a response, so I
figured I should try here.  If anyone has figured out a way to play
it, I'd like to know, although of course I'd rather have the
designer's clarifications.

http://www.icehousegames.org/wiki/index.php?title=Trip_Away

 * Does "your own piece" mean a piece of any color in front of you, or
   a piece of your color anywhere, or only a piece of your color in
   front of you?
 * Does "one of your opponents' pieces" mean a piece in front of an
   opponent, or a piece of an opponent's color in front of you?
 * When you Tip and you have no upright pieces, do you just aim any
   piece and set the rest upright? Or do you have to pass? I'm
   confused about the "and/or"---should it just be "and"?
 * When you Swap, can you swap any two pieces, or do they have to be
   in front of the same player? If you swap between players, does the
   piece that does not change direction continue to point at the same
   player, or does it keep the same absolute pointing direction? What
   if it's pointing at the player who it's in front of?
 * In the case of a tie, where do the extra pieces come from? 
   Elsewhere on the table, or only from out of play? Do you have to
   use your own color, or any color?

Thanks,
--dougorleans at gmail.com