Score: 9

"Funny. I liked it. it good."

submission: Gun Control?!

date: March 15, 2001

Ahaaaaaahahahahaaaaaaaaa! That was great! Yeah, I think this whole gun debate has gotten a little out of hand. Good to have a humerous piece to lighten things up a little! We just went through all that gun registration bullshit in Canada. What a fucking money grab, man! Now you have to have three or four licenses to own/operate HUNTING rifles, all of which cost mucho dinero each, and everybody knows that if you want a piece REALLY REALLY bad, your gonna get it. Actually, I don't really mind the registration process and even 75% of the procedural bullshit if it means people are better educated on how to operate and store their weapons (and how not to accidentally shoot their kids or themselves in the head) but, hey, the man must think we is all STUPID er sumpthin if he thinks that paying an extra few hundred bucks a year is really helping anything! Greed, man! That's what it all comes down too, and frankly, it seems like if there were a little less of that, their might be a little less of a gun problem = control = power, et al. Peace.

Score: 8

"Like, a DOCUMENTARY, like, ON THE PORTAL?!? COOL.."

submission: The Legacy of Gun Control

date: March 8, 2001

While I'm not so sure I agree with this piece, this was the best treatment of a serious
topic I have ever seen on the portal! The music was a propo given the treatment
of the subject, however, gave an oversimplistic, idealistic feel to the content in a
debate that perhaps needs less to be "won," than "resolved" in the most objective,
clear headed, and non-partisan way possible. The one-sidedness of this flic really
undermined the "debate" aspect, especially with the (cliched!) devise of transposing
one's "opponents" over pictures of demonized cultural icons like Hitler or Stalin. This
is (unfortunately) an effective rhetorical tactic, but to anyone with a brain, is a
hackneyed, overused "scare" tactic that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. (It's
also called an ad homonem fallacy, if you want to get technical). What did I learn
from this video? That a holocaust victim, who is applying technological and cultural
context of the early 20th century, sais that in case the U.S. government rose up in
arms against its own citizens, that the primitive weapons that one is allowed to own
right now would actually be effective in repelling a well trained, heavily armed
government military force with tanks and heavy artillery. What a fucking mess that
would be!! And is that level of paranoia really justified? Maybe. Could a few less
people get killed on the streets if everyone in downtown LA didn't have a handgun
on their person all the time? Maybe. Is it possible that the greater the opportunity
and the closer the proximity of a great number of handguns to a public, by the
law of averages alone, guarantees that more people will have accidents with
handguns? I think this is reasonable. Nobody wants to shut down sportsmen, skeet-
shooters or recreational hunters, just stem the proliferation of (needless) firearms
amongst a public, before we all have a GOOD reason to be paranoid!

Score: 10

"Holy cow..."

submission: Robocop-PD

date: February 13, 2001

I..just...ah....I mean, I'm speachless! Holy crap, that was great! Oritz is the man!

Score: 5

"Sorry about your loss."

submission: dedication to my mother

date: February 13, 2001

What a moving tribute to your mom. Great effort. It is refreshing to see flash animation embodying more ranges of subject matter/emotional content than random acts of violence, prostitution, and voyeurism. While the graphic images were simple, I thought this perhaps lent itself to the strong sentiment that you were trying to convey - kind of like a Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen delivery (if not their poetic sophistocation - sorry, I just can't bring myself to like country music, no matter how appropriate in this video). Overall: Great job, man. Very brave, and a great tribute.

Score: 10

"Dat one bitchin' dawg!"

submission: Scrotum 4

date: January 11, 2001

Great flick! I loved the artwork on this, and the music/slow-mo gives the piece a fantastic atmosphere. And dat dawg one bitchin' muthafucka!