The Necessary Story

By Marc Porter Zasada

Tonight the Urban Man is sitting on a beach just north of L.A. with a can of beer, watching the lights of ships and trying to construct his personal story. “It began in the ‘burbs, then…” No, that doesn’t quite work. “He dreamed big dreams, but…” No again, forget it. “Over the decades he learned that, ‘you can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you get what you need.’ ”

That last bit is promising. Even though it’s a quote from Jagger, it’s both self-effacing and upbeat. And I think, “Okay, let’s start there. It’s a good spin.”

Trying Everything

By Marc Porter Zasada
The Urban Man Commentaries 

Here where we can do anything, we can never do enough. If we go to the play, we’re missing the concert; if we’re out gardening, we’re not out sailboarding; if we’re performing, we’re not relating; if we’re washing the dishes, we’re not outlining our next screenplay. Surely, if we were to devote ourselves to the beautiful X, we’d miss the delights of the wonderful Y; and Lord knows that when we’re working on our abs we’re not working on our children.

Like most people I know in this remarkable time and place, I want to try everything. I want to lose my soul on a dance floor. Make love in an elevator. Base jump from the Eiffel tower. Photograph Machu Picchu by night. Surf Hanalei by day. Write. Paint. Direct.

Then, of course, collaborate. Contemplate. Meditate. Pray. Connect. Design. Develop. Dabble not just in marketing but in engineering. Not just in music, but in activism.

Admiration for Bloodsuckers

By Marc Porter Zasada
The Urban Man
June 26, 2012

Like most folks these days, I am obsessed with vampires. It’s not that I actually want to be seduced by a vampire, or become a vampire—but I understand the appeal. I mean, vampires are clearly more sophisticated, more competent, and certainly more fit than regular people. As highly-talented celebrities of our subconscious, they deserve their current starring role in film, TV, and the hearts of teenage girls.

The Judgment of Strangers

By Marc Porter Zasada
(An Urban Man Classic Post – First Appeared on KCRW.COM)

Like most Americans, the Urban Man believes that the only fair way to decide any issue is to ask a group of ignorant strangers. I have faith in special elections and unqualified juries. I believe in asking folks who can’t balance their checkbooks to reset my tax code and make complex law.

You see, I’m pretty sure that somewhere out in the cosmos, there’s a Universal Fairness Principle which can be accessed only by asking the totally uninformed.

Certainly, when I have a personal disagreement with a colleague—or a spouse—I appeal to that principle as if we both agreed that it exists. As if, say, we took a poll of a hundred random individuals, at least 51 would agree with me.

And sometimes I think: Hey, maybe that could be arranged. I mean, I do live in this big city.

Failure Is An Option

Tommy Wiseau

By Marc Porter Zasada

It’s nearing midnight in Hollywood, and the Urban Man has joined his fellow Angelenos on a sacred pilgrimmage. I’ve come with a rowdy club of twenty-somethings to stand outside the Sunset Five, in a long and happy line to see “The Citizen Kane of Bad Movies.”

I mean, of course, The Room, that delicious cult epic of bad writing, bad acting, and bad direction; the film produced by, written by, directed by, and starring the staggeringly untalented Tommy Wiseau.

This is the work sent by God to assure mankind that “failure is an option”–and really, could there be anything more important to communicate to His ever-suffering children?

The night is cold, but the mall is lit with the clean fluorescence of successful commerce—the Starbucks and Trader Joes that dominate our lives.  The crowd would prefer to be more rowdy: more stoned or more drunk or more foolish.  But our own failures are insufficient: we need Tommy to clown before us.

Perfect Nonsense

By Marc Porter Zasada

(An Urban Man classic post. First appeared on KCRW.com)

Like most people, the Urban Man often says, “if only life were more like media.” If only the women were reliably beautiful or wise, the men muscled or avuncular. If only we offered one another heartfelt looks at the tail ends of dramatic days, and never had to tie our shoes after moments of true love.

Today, as I sit working on a laptop at a favorite hotel bar here in L.A., I look up from time to time to watch yet another production crew shooting out by the pool.

Just One Little Thought – An Urban Man Video

The Urban Man has been trying all day to have just one little thought of his own. Check out the video at http://youtu.be/KGHLTo81k2U.

Produced by Terra Abroms, Directed by Rupert Green, Edited by Ed Abroms.