One Comment

  1. scarboi
    OK fair and balanced coverage
    just curious what your opinion is though

    who do think is telling the truth?
    2004/07/09 @ 06:18 am

    John
    I’ve seen enough feuds to know that the jury is still out on this one. It’s not really about taking sides, either, in this instance.

    Afflicted is the best example of Stelfox’s “guy sitting in Kingston right now – writing up a storm” for good or bad. His alleged personal conduct in this feud aside, a lot of his stuff is just as entertaining, discomforting, confusing and compelling as the dancehall artists he photographs.

    As for Ammo City, I have the greatest, utmost respect for Richard Norris, one of its other founders. Graham Brown-Martin I know nothing about beyond the links here. The portrayal of his alleged behaviour in this is interesting for people like me (and I assume Dave and other bloggers) who feel uncomfortable in their role as fans of and writers about Jamaican music and culture.
    2004/07/09 @ 10:01 am

    Stelfox
    that whole episode was/is both extraordinary and sordid. i’ve worked with peter dean rickards on a number of things – never had any dialogue with him, but his photographic work has accompanied my writing in a few mags etc – but never really checked his site too much. i wasn’t very impressed with either party’s writings here and found a lot of it pretty distasteful, so didn’t want to highlight what was going on by posting any more on the matter at all. the one thing i will say is that jamaica is not a place i would consider going with a view to making myself a big fish. it may be a small pond but the waters can still get pretty choppy, if you know what i mean. there’s also a matter of undersatnding a culture and not expecting to be able to get away with everything or enjoy the same freedoms we’re used to as people living in affluent, predominantly liberal societies (affluence and liberalism are inextricably linked, btw, but you all know that anyway). still, while it’s safe to say that i think peter’s a fucking talented photographer (really one of the best in the world and without peer in the sphere he’s working) his writing, and many of the opinions therein, stink.
    2004/07/09 @ 12:29 pm

    Stelfox
    obviously, i can make no judgement about what is being alleged by graham brown-martin coz i don’t know what happened and it’s exactly that – alleged.
    2004/07/09 @ 12:31 pm

    John
    thanks for your thoughts, Dave – not much to add except a nod of agreement really…
    2004/07/09 @ 04:27 pm

    scarboi
    well thanks for the clarification

    I do really enjoy reading both uncarved and what I have read of Stelfox,

    sad to see you go man
    2004/07/10 @ 12:11 am

    missa
    It all seemed pretty funny to me till i actually checked the META TAGS for AMMOCITY which were pointed out by rickards on his message board:

    meta name=Description” content=”AMMO CITY – music/art/style/affairs/antidotes, london and jamaica based serving a global community, digital magazine, radio, events, sharp editorial and fit girls.”
    meta name=”Keywords” content=”ammocity, ammo, city, ammo city, music, uk, underground, satirical, community, london, new york, tokyo, opinions, style, protest, art, design, contemporary, transcultural, radio, independent, politics, magazine, internet radio, british, mixed-race, culture, lifestyle, alternative, sex, graffiti, student, fashion, style, multicultural, diverse, diversity, asian, african, american, jamaica, jamaican, guns, bombs, shop, media, ezine, clubs, clubbing, music news, reviews, interviews, free, tickets, urban, indie, spoken word, poetry, black, dance, film, theatre, theater, gossip, blog, blogging, war, jihad, european, direct action, drugs, journalism, e-zine, graham brown-martin, urban survival, urban intelligence, guide, graf, disobedience, resistance”

    ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
    2004/07/10 @ 08:22 pm

    missa
    commentBy the way , has anyone read this?

    http://www.afflictedyard.com/littlewhitelies.htm

    and crosreferenced it with this article?:

    http://www.ammocity.com/artman/publish/article_152.shtml

    …if you were uncomfortable about white boys writying about reggae before. This won’t help the situation.
    2004/07/10 @ 08:42 pm

    paul “Essex boy” meme
    I find the whole thing mystifying.
    2004/07/11 @ 06:02 pm

    ed http://83.216.135.129/blogistan/
    Aye
    Classic spat! I thoroughly enjoyed,
    no doubt the protagonists will be along shortly to clear up any ‘misunderstandings’
    as i’m sure both are keen vanity googlists
    2004/07/12 @ 11:55 am

    Martina
    Afflicted’s Peter Rickards has serious mental problems if you ask me. The argument with Ammo City seems to be just another in a long line of Rickards victims of abuse. It’s pretty obvious that he has a huge problem with skin colour and women.

    I think Ammo did a good thing by exposing the situation and none of their reporting descended into the personal attacks made by Afflicted.

    Rape and murder threats, for heavens sake!
    2004/07/13 @ 01:15 pm

    missa
    THIS IS SICK…but i spit out my coffee laughing when i read it.

    commentFri, 2 Apr 2004 19:09:01 -0500

    FROM: graham@ammocity.com

    TO : mail@afflictedyard.com

    RE: FILM NIGHT

    “hi mate i’ve been meaning to reply to this and other emails for the past week but with the combination of visiting in-laws, buggered phones and general crap i’ve just got to it… i thought the film night was great, well organised and a good turn out despite the day’s rain. it certainly bodes well for this kind of event in the future.

    my observations/questions lie as follows: i think i got the wrong end of the stick about the evening as i thought that the idea was to gather together various movers and shakers on the basis of showing them a great movie and providing an opportunity to network and subtly drum some trade or at least plant the seeds…

    i’d assumed that this would be a bit of a joint effort and we’d get a chance to show some of your and my work. but as it turned out it was definitely a peter dean rickards event which is fair enough given that in jamaica i’m a nobody. but it would have been nice to show at least one of my short films just to introduce myself. the only one i’ve shown you so far is the ammo promo which is not what i would necessarily choose but i also brought a dvd full of other less promo oriented stuff which i didn’t get the chance to show you even though i did ask several times hours before showtime.

    i kinda felt like the projector tech.

    this isn’t a big issue for me and like i said i must have misunderstood what this night was about and who’s night it was. my mistake was thinking that this was a joint gig. it was nice meeting some of your links but to be honest i’m too long in the tooth and in the industry to engage in male bonding rituals over dance music particularly given that i have put out so many defining albums in this field! but it was amusing to be sure!! i’d also imagined that i would have at least some input into the programming of future events.

    believe it or not i do think that i can contribute some films that are on a par with ‘city of god’. c.o.g. is a great film albeit one that did the rounds over a year ago in the u.k. and i have a few more that i know you’d be feeling even though you haven’t seen or heard of them which would have been the same situation if i’d mentioned c.o.g. about 6 months ago! clearly both of us are driven entrepreneurial creatives wanting to make our mark and naturally ego’s are gonna get pricked sometimes!! so assuming that the purpose of these nights is to promote afflicted photography and take some box office then i suggest we figure out the commercial plot.

    i’m not in the video projector rental business and whilst i’m delighted to help out a very good friend i think we have to figure out where we both stand to avoid any confusion, afterall if it’s just a good projector you need i’m sure there are plenty of rental houses in kingston that specialise in this.. certainly this has got me thinking about what i’m going to be doing in jamaica and you’re absolutely right that i’ve been spouting hot air for long enough. my original idea for coming here was to check out of london for a bit and gain some sort of meaningful lifestyle or work/life balance.

    i’m probably at a different career point to yourself and i really can’t be fucked to pander to pop stars or product managers with shit budgets. having thought about nothing else since i got here i’m really wanting to focus on writing and interesting media projects whilst at the same time enjoying my family (it happens eventually mate!). in spite of the agonising about living in the country this was part of the reason for leaving the busiest city in the world and it was only to be expected that i would be in culture shock for months! i’m not convinced that living in kingston will bring me what i’m looking for especially when it’s just a couple of hours away on an amazing journey.

    my family and i need to settle for a bit and see what happens, i’m not sure i want to start another media factory given that i’ve done it enough times that it’s no longer a challenge (perhaps i should send you my resume!).i’m as keen as ever to work with you on something great but not sure that two gourmet chefs in the kitchen is a good idea if we want to continue to enjoy each others friendship and support. we originally talked about doing a book and maybe a magazine, i think we should pick that up again whilst seeing where projects that we are working on or pitching for can positively involve the other. seriously i’m a pain in the ass to work with on an everyday basis and i’m sure you’re the same!

    i learnt in london that the two ways to make money and get respect is to either build a dominating agency and become an arsehole or work in small independent teams, deliver amazing work and remain aloof. i’m favouring the latter. i’m not going to crack this in a single email but i thought it only right to let you know where my heads at before we make plans. the money is not in work for hire projects, that just pays the bills. the real cashola and the recognition is in published, royalty generating product and that’s where we need to be.

    let’s not try to build some fuck-off agency, the market here is too small and it will be an uphill struggle trying to compete on the world stage from jamaica, we’ll always be coming up against some shithead from omnicom. let’s make some great stuff that people all over the world want to buy, a book, a film, a magazine, tv shows, etc. lets work on that.

    peace, love, ackee & saltfish g”
    2004/07/13 @ 05:27 pm

    missa
    Who is stelfox by the way. Any articles online?
    2004/07/13 @ 05:29 pm

    Martina
    What I find interesting is that the Ammo City messageboard allows anonymous postings whereas the Afflicted one doesn’t. Perhaps this afflicted chap can’t take any criticism but he certainly spends a lot of time on the messageboard of his nemesis as can be seen here:

    full of vitriol and there’s loads of it!

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=535

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=523

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=528

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=530

    but this one made me laugh the most

    http://www.ammocity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=536

    maybe try some decaf 🙂
    2004/07/13 @ 06:52 pm

    missa
    martina, when did you change ur name? its pathetically obvious who you are.
    2004/07/13 @ 10:04 pm

    missa
    still looking for stelfox articles
    2004/07/13 @ 10:06 pm

    John Eden
    Prescient as ever, ed… 🙂

    Stelfox has had stuff published in xlr8r magazine and some uk newspapers. He had a blog until recently, but has now deleted all the content (see my sidebar for a link to what remains). It included a great interview with TOK, for example.

    I don’t want this blog to become yet another arena for the feud – especially as both protagonists have their own internet forums in which to write and engage in discussion. People can read and contribute to them if they want to.

    I will be leaving the above in this comments box but may will delete subsequent posts if they are just rehashing stuff which has appeared elsewhere.
    2004/07/13 @ 10:40 pm

    John
    I will also delete imflammatory posts from either “side”. Take it elsewhere, boys.
    2004/07/14 @ 11:56 am

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