Photo taken 4/10/07 at St. Marks Place.I did agree with this photo two weekends ago when that godforsaken nor'easter flooded our basement, but I've gotten over it. Me and this state with its rich heritage of questionnable governors are pals again.
Hey, speaking of the Garden State, Zach Braff -- director of the awesome movie that goes by that name and is better known to me as My Twin Brother -- has a blog! What a find! You can see it here.
Now why would I in my craziness make such an outlandish claim not just of common ties, but of conjoined blood relation? Answers below.
1. When I first started watching Scrubs earlier this year, which I began with the pilot episode courtesy of a DVD rental (and not with the episodes being aired now which are stale and not funny at all), I swear to Yahweh I was watching myself as his character named J.D. This guy has a very rich inner life, is always running some interior monologue, sees fantasized scenes played out in front of him, and ALWAYS says the wrong thing which ends up upsetting his friends even though he started off trying to be tactful. So I thought, "Hey, the writer of Scrubs (not the actor) sounds a lot like me" but little did I know....
2. ....that Zach Braff as the writer and director of Garden State is also me! The movie deals with isolation and the attempt to find purpose and connection in the face of suburban, contemporary American life. If I were to direct a movie, I would want it to have the atmosphere, the sense of disconnection and wry humor that this movie has.
So. Funny ZB as the character J.D. equals Teaneck T, and now serious ZB is also TT when she's alone and all serious. And then....
3. ...what's with the acoustic folk and heartfelt indie music like Joshua Radin, Zero 7, and Thievery Corporation that are played not just in Scrubs, not just in Garden State, but also in his latest movie called The Last Kiss? What do the three have in common? Mah man Zach, of course! And what are the songs in my iTunes collection well before I even knew this guy existed? The very songs that I heard in his shows and movies. Plus...
4. ... he's got those big facial cheeks. What's the one most prominent facial feature I have? Bingo. I used to be embarrassed about my chipmunk cheeks before, but not anymore thanks to you, twin brother!
5. And my all-time proof: When Lorin was watching one of the 20,000 episodes of Scrubs I have devoted myself to since the pilot episode, he -- not knowing any of my claims, mind you -- actually said, "You know, sweetie, this guy's gestures and expressions remind me of you."
Man alive, if I wasn't married to him already I would have proposed right then and there. He recognized me! Not just that, he identified my kin!
Btw, if you do check out his blog, see if the meandering humor and wordy, senseless asides sound eerily familiar to you. Take out all the mentions of famous Hollywood people like Brad Pitt and P. Diddy and what do you have? A guy who could be living in Teaneck, that's what.
P.S.
Writing this post made me curious where my twin really did come from. My research tonight courtesy of IMDB shows that he hails from.... Maplewood, New Jersey! I done tole ya we're peeps! So what if I'm actually from Staten Island by way of Manila. I am shocked by how much proof there is in my chemical-saturated Jersey pudding.
