For those of you not insulted by "Working class" my good friend Charlie's grandfather, William "Wully" Robertson portrait "Generals of the Great War" by John Singer Sargent (#16 left to right) resides in the British National Gallery as a man who still holds the record for fastest rise in the British military and rose above his "class as a servant." Tell you how big a deal that was, the Brits commissioned an American painter. It's VERY rare the Brits go out of their own to honor their greatest examples.

The Sun never sets on the British Empire. Outside of NYC, London is and always shall be my oldest friend as as far back as I was 19 and ready to travel the world on my own. The values of a country that doesn't rely on law to determine its culture is powerful. There's no law or amendment that stipulates what bring British means, it's a tradition that isn't forced but dutifully practiced. Think about how a small isolated region could do so much, you too would appreciate the prude characteristic. No high fives in that house.

I think every one goes through a British media culture phase. It often precedes American Cable programming and follows preoccupation with religion, cartoons, and Japanese anime. By no means is this is a bad thing but rather the "Geek Silk Roads" of trade for the Geek version of Marco Polo. For me, my limited exposure to the culture definitely taught me a lot about how never give your opponent anything to use against you, never over react or show true emotion even when the chips are down, and marvelous literature. Starting with, anyone heard of a cat named Shakespeare? 

Judge Dredd is a drink: Take Dirty Harry, Deathrace2000, and healthy chunks of Punisher served on ice. You can wiki up or read countless blogs about Judge Dredd till you become educated on the character without spending a dime. I'll just say this, a few guys named: Alan Grant (Batman), Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher MAX), Mark Millar (Kick Ass, Wolverine), John Smith (Hellblazer)...list goes on but you get the gist. I don't need to mention Gaiman or Moore to make you understand the American comic book industry has been innovated by the British many times over to this day. It is not to say America does not have its own greatness to add to the mix but horrific adaptations somehow tend to stand out like this...

Judge Anderson, "He knows what he's doing..." DOES HE? I think Stallone was really trying to kill the growing # of comic book adaptations at that time. I must admit, I had to have the Judge Dredd collector's cup. At the time, this was the closest I could ever hope of seeing it on the big screen. Sadly my mom threw it out. No wonder why other countries hate America specifically, Hollywood. 

When people ask about the part of my life when I was addicted to video games, I often say, "I don't remember much but I do remember a lot of reading to get to finally play the character." 

Some Seventeen yrs later (yea, that dates me)...Karl Urban without the chin gets the helmet...

No origin story just good ol' fashioned senseless violence. Meet Dredd: The Raid meets Die Hard but with infinitely more intense and gratuitous gun porn. 

Itinerary

2000 Dinner at Butter 415 LaFayette site Humbly recommend the NY Strip. It's a steak the size of a 10lb meat fetus (no, really). 

2250 Dredd 3-D: Kips Bay 570 Second Ave