Beginnings

What are you doing here?!!!! www.zachbraff.com is now open for business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News From the Robots

Dearest Fans,
Get ready for the launch of my new site: Zachbraff.com   Sorry I haven't posted here in awhile, but we've been working hard on launching our new home. Just give me a couple more days to work out some kinks; the robots are doing their best.

The site will launch with an exclusive super-secret teaser for my new film, "The Last Kiss".

p.s. Joshua Radin got signed to Columbia Records and I'm directing his video at the end of the month...  :)

Peace and love,
ZB

Joshua Radin=Good

Dearest F.O.G.S. (Friends of Garden State), and F.O.Z.B.'s (Friends of Zach Braff),

How are you?

*Note if you're a F.O.P.W.E.B.T.H.O.O.B.W.A.S. (Friend of People Who Enjoy Blowing the Heads Off of Birds With a Shotgun), you're probably in the wrong place... but heck stick around, there's something for everyone on this site.

It's been a long time since we spoke, so I thought I'd post on this overcast day in Los Angeles. I wanna start off by plugging the COOLEST album there is right now. Since many of you liked the Garden State soundtrack and are often asking me for new music and what I'm listening to, I'm gonna give you the hottest tip there is. His name is Joshua Radin. He just released his first full album on itunes and you can check it out HERE. He's not even signed to a label yet and it's already jumped to #1 on the itunes folk chart. We've had a bunch of his music on Scrubs and I'm telling you if there were a stock market where you could invest in future sensations, I'd put all my money in Radin Futures. (That and Pudding Pops, because I think they're due for a comeback.) I am very honored to call him my friend and I hope when he blows up, he'll still remember the little people and continue to let me crush him in backgammon and ping pong.

I'm in LA now finishing the 5th season of Scrubs. We wrap on April 15th and I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna do this summer. I'm leaning towards directing a film. I've gotten the rights to a foreign film that I'm adapting. I can't get too specific because I'm still working on the deal. But if that comes through, I could very well be directing my second film this summer. As far as the 6th season of Scrubs? Who knows. It's all up in the air right now. But we're having a lot of fun doing this season. Those of you who watch know we've gotten a little crazier; a little more surreal; a little more stoner-friendly. I personally enjoy that kind of humor.

My dog has a cough. If you've never seen a dog with a cough, I recommend trying to find one. It's hilarious. I'm trying not to laugh in his face, but it's so cute/ridiculous to hear him cough that it makes me smile every time. He's on medicine. I think it's his allergies; he's allergic to more things than Millhouse and Paul from the "Wonder Years" combined. At last count I think he was allergic to air, water, lawn grass and food. He's a big nerd, but I love him.

If you live in LA and want a good laugh, check out the local ABC nightly news. There's an anchor named "Michelle Tuzee" pronounced "two-zie". Now where I'm from, a two-zie is a bowel movement. AKA a number two, a load, dropping the kids off at the pool, opening bombay doors, etc. So every time this woman says, "Good evening, I'm Michele Two-zie," I crack up. Now I know I'm thirty and I probably shouldn't be laughing at that, but I think it may be one of the funniest things I've ever heard. *** Bonus: If you have TIVO, you can pause her after she says, "Good evening, I'm Michelle..." Then you say out loud to a friend or loved one, " I need to drop a..." then unpause and she'll say "Two-zie". I'm telling you, it's a great way to end a hard day."

We're working hard on zachbraff.com. It's gonna be really cool. We're gonna have short films festivals, short story contests, still-photo contests. It's gonna be better than "O" magazine. Incidentally, they asked me to be the first non-Oprah cover of "O" magazine and I said no. I just didn't think it would be fair to all those hard core James Frey-hating Oprah fans to have to go a month without being able to look at her face while they're dropping a Michelle Two-zie.

Check out the trailer for, "Thank you For Smoking". It looks really good. I cruise quicktime for movie trailers and that looks like one of the coolest ones.

Rumor Patrol:

I am not engaged. But I am dating a very lovely lady. (read rags for fun if you must, but please don't believe what you read)
I am not part tiger. (one photographer got a shot of my tail and things got blown out of proportion.)
I do love Life Cereal. (this one's true. Man it's good; either flavor.)
I am going to be Vesper Lind (the new Bond love interest). After the success of certain films this year, they have decided to "shake things up" this time around. And so Bond will be gay. I play Vesper Lind, a German spy who loves trip-hop and raves. I assassinate my victims by forcing them to drink the fluid inside of glow-sticks. James and I meet when our hands accidentally touch during a "Licensed to Kill" seminar in Dusseldorf. We were both reaching for an "Ain't Misbehavin" CD that kills an enemy after he/she listens to the Act One curtain closer. Not very effective as a means of assassination since the target would have to make it through some really mediocre numbers in the first act, and like I said, it only works on "he/she's" which aren't very common in the spy business outside of Thailand. Can't say much more it's all very hush-hush...

That's it for now.
Peace and love my friends. Be good to one another and try not to shoot each other in the face.

ZB

100th Episode

Hey everybody! Just a quick post to remind you all to check out the 100th episode of  "Scrubs" tonight on NBC at 9:00pm Eastern and Pacific. I directed it and I think it came out pretty cool. You can still watch American Idol (if you must), just switch over at 9 to NBC. Lemme know what you think.

Longer post coming soon. I swear.
Oh and check out the movie, "The Girl in the Cafe". It's very good.

Peace,
ZB

A Video Post from Zach

I still love you all.

I'm working on a big juicy video post to make up for my long time absence. Please forgive me! I don't deserve such loyal fans, but I hope you'll all stick around cause things are about to get really fun. I'm not gonna drop too much, but www.zachbraff.com is truly under construction.

peace, love and because I owe you all so badly; check out this song: "Broke Window" by Gary Jules

ZB

Blog unto Others...

Dear friends,

Sorry I've been MIA for so long. This is just a quick post to say I'm still here and I'm gonna post a long message soon, but I've just been stupid, silly busy finishing "The Last Kiss" and moving to Manhattan to start up "Fast Track" right away. As I can barely keep my eyes open, I'm not gonna say to much other than this:

1) Those of you who have been having some sort of verbal battle on the comments section of this blog. Please stop. That is not what this site is about and it is certainly not what I am about. There are an infinite number of places to be mean and unkind on the internet, please don't do that here. Talk about ANYTHING you like, write poetry, tell me about your day, ask me anything, you can even yell at me for not posting and write "you probably don't even read this, but...", just don't argue about meaningless shit here. The fact that the people on this blog are so cool and friendly is the reason I've kept doing it.

2) Check out Lori McKenna, "Beautiful Man" on iTunes. It will make you feel warm and fuzzy and sad and happy and lonesome all at the same time. (Now that's quality art!)

3) Smile; Bobby and Whitney do.

love,
zb

Zach

Stir Crazy in French Canada

You know you're bored out of your mind when you're watching Rob and Amber get married!

Filming a movie in a foreign city can be hard sometimes when you quickly run out of things to do. On GS, I was in Jersey and NYC and I know my way around those places. But there's not too much going on on a Tuesday night in Montreal. Those of you who live here, please feel free to go nuts telling me all the things I should do. Please leave out carriage rides, drum circles, the biodome, the casino and Cirque du Soleil. I've done them all.

Not really, but I had this twisted nightmare once where I was dating a really bitchy Clydesdale who played drums in wedding band; anyhoo one night (high on laced feed) she lost all my savings in a heated round of Bacarat, so we had to live in the Winter quadrant of a biodome. You wanna hear a horse complain- stick'em in an artificial winter in a Canadian biodome. "My hooves, my hooves!" "Shut-up, you whore! You're the one who smoked bad feed." Sorry - Anyhoo, we lived on ice and learned to Juggle and manipulate our bodies to Enya. ---

So anyway... that's why I feel like I've done them all.

There's a New Chicken Little trailer up. Check it out.

Please vote for me and Natalie for the MTV Movie Awards HERE.

I'll post soon. Probably next week during "Rob and Amber Get Divorced."

Peace, love, and a toothy smile.

ZB

Zach

Shalom from Canada

As we say in Montreal, "Bon Jour"!

First off, the answer to a very popular question: Yes, I am the voice of the Cottonelle puppy. I did it for free because I love toilet paper so much, I wanted to spread the word about how amazing Cottonelle is on your twosie region (no I didn't do it for free, but I must admit, it is a damn fine product). My twosie region never chafes.

My kissing skills have been nominated for an award. As though it weren't enough of a gift to kiss Natalie Portman, our kiss on the crane has been nominated for "Best Kiss" by the MTV Movie Awards. I also got nominated for breakout male actor and Natalie was nominated for Best Actress. It's up to you, the fans. So please VOTE here so we can bring home the golden popcorn.

Life in Montreal is very fun. It really is a beautiful city and the people are very friendly. I just got back from a very tasty lunch of crepes and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I know the ice cream is from Vermont, but it's close by. The movie is going well, I haven't filmed too much yet, but I start working pretty non-stop on Monday. 

I'm going to NYC for the Scrubs DVD launch party this weekend. I'm also trying to score tickets to Saturday Night Live since I just found out Will Ferrell is hosting, That guy is so funny. I just look at him and I start laughing.

I've become addicted to Halo on xbox. We have crazy amounts of downtime up here, so we've been having late night Halo tournaments and Topspin (the tennis game) battles as well. But it seems whoever's Sampras wins - conspiracy.

My buddy Cary Brothers is opening up for Aqualung all over the country, so if they come to a city near you, go check them out. I've never heard Aqualung, but I do love me some Cary Brothers.

Go check out the movie "Crash". I really enjoyed it.  Also, it was time for Federof to go on American Idol. Not that I watch that crap (I totally do). But that guy can't sing. Cute blonde country singing girl all the way!

Rumor has it Arrested Development will be picked up for 2 seasons. This is a good rumor.

Did anyone see the cartoon on Saturday Night Live where doctors gave Michael Jackson special glasses so every girl he meets looks like Emmanuel Lewis? That was so wrong and HI-larious. Track it down.

Okay, I'm rambling cause I'm crazy, silly high on caffeine right now.

More to come:
xoxo
ZBizzle

Zach

Crystal Village and Lunch with Silent Bob

Dearest Friends,

Hello there. Today is a big day; my last day at home before I leave for Canada for two months. Scrubs has wrapped for the season, I had a couple of weeks off, and now it's time to start "The Last Kiss".  Those of you who are truly interested can rent the Italian film, ">"L'ultimo Baccio".  That's the film ours is adapted from.  Paul Haggis, who wrote "Million Dollar Baby" did the adaptation and I tweaked the dialogue a little bit.  I'm really excited about this movie.

I met with Kevin Smith yesterday at his house to discuss "Fletch" and/or other projects.  He's such a cool guy. He cooked me lunch!  It was really awesome to sit down with someone who's had so much success and still acts like a regular guy from Jersey. I jokingly told him I wanted to make "Garden State" action figures. (Because he's got figures from every one of his movies.) He told me he'd put me in touch with the guy who does his. So who knows, I think it would be pretty cool to have a Sam action figure...

The Gavin video is finally done. You can see it on aol exclusively right now, but it's gonna premiere on TRL next week. So please VOTE for it, so people actually get a chance to see all the hard work that went into it. It stars Gavin, Jamie King and Donald Faison.

Also, the amazing Web Guys who created this site were nominated for a Webby Award for their design. Please VOTE for them to win because they did such an amazing job. (They were the ones who told me what a blog was!)  I'm gonna enlist their help to move this blog over to my own site soon.  I own www.zachbraff.com and pretty soon I'm going to launch some cool ass thang over there.

I got to speak to my alma mater, Northwestern this past week.  It was really surreal to go back and speak to all these students and have them actually interested in what I had to say.

Best birthday present: a drum set.
Freakiest present from a fan: a sweater for my dog with his name sewn into it.
Best show on tv: Project Greenlight on Bravo
Funniest thing I've ever seen: CLICK HERE
Song of the DAY:  "Crystal Village"  by Pete Yorn

Take a deep breath and realize how completely insane it is that you're alive.

Peace and love,
ZB

Warning: Not Funny!

Yes it's true. I got Punk'd bad. I've been meaning to write about it for sometime, but I wasn't allowed to talk about it until it aired. It was a very disturbing sight to see my brand new car covered in graffiti. I'm pretty sure I'd do the exact same thing again. For those of you that don't understand, maybe it's a Jersey thing or something. I don't have too many alpha male qualities (I went to theater camp for God's sake) but growing up in Jersey, me and my buddies always loved cars. Hurting a nice one is sacrilegious. All I can think about now is plotting my revenge on Donald Faison. It consumes me. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night just to jot down good ideas. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

In other news, I'm once again directing Gavin DeGraw's video for the song "Chariot". If you don't know it, check it out. I think he's a real talent and someone who's gonna be around for a long time. We're shooting next tuesday in LA and it's gonna be really cool. The whole video is one long continuos shot as Gavin and a girl navigate through this crazy set that's constantly changing. It's my first time doing a real video. I did one for the Scrubs theme song, but it wasn't a real video with an actual budget.

Getting ready to shoot "Last Kiss" in Montreal this spring. I hear that it's an amazing city and I'm looking forward to spending sometime outside of LA. The script is really good and we're starting to fill out the rest of the cast. Michael Weston, who played Kenny the Cop in Garden State, got one of the male leads in the movie.

I think the Arrested Development I did airs on 4/10. That show is so friggin funny! I don't know if any of you saw this weeks, but I laughed out loud a lot. Enjoy it now, because who knows how long that amazing show will be around for.

As far as the Fletch rumors, that was news to me. I'm a huge Fletch fan and a huge Kevin Smith fan, so maybe when the time comes he'll really want me and I'l be available to do it. We're winding down at Scrubs. Only 3 more episodes to shoot for the season.

I'm exhausted. Sorry if I'm not that funny tonight, I just got home from work and I felt like I was long overdue to post. But I must go to sleep now.
Also remember, anyone saying they're me anywhere else on the web (myspace, friendster, chat rooms, message boards) is not me. This is the only place I write.
Thank you guys so much for continuing to respond to my posts.

Awesome song of the week: Lori McKenna -- "Stealing Kisses" Also check out her cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees".

Peace and Love,
ZB

Spooning an Eagle

Hello friends!

Since we last spoke I won a Grammy and an Independent Spirit award. Yes it's true, I am now "Grammy award winning actor Zach Braff." Pretty funny, huh? The spirit awards were very cool. I got to see so many actors and directors I look up to. This is all very new to me, so I'm very star struck by people like Robin Williams. (Who told me he was a big fan of the movie.) I tried sleeping next to the trophy, but it has sharp edges and the eagle's talons began to chafe my belly.

The big news this week is that I directed tomorrow night's episode of Scrubs. (It airs Tuesday night on NBC at 9:00 pm pacific.) Please check it out; I'm really proud of how it turned out. Heather Graham is back and the episode's got music by my two favorite new musicians and friends, Cary Brothers and Joshua Radin.

Thanks to you all for getting the word out on the charity auction; Nat's wardrobe went for over $3000 and the gas nozzle went for over $1000. It all goes straight to tsunami relief, so it was a great cause.

Dynamite song: "Waiting on an Angel" Ben Harper
Dynamite joke: Why was Piglet looking in the toilet? He was looking for Pooh.
Dynamite explosive: Dynamite.
Dynamite strategy for tic tac toe: x,x,x

Peace and Love,

Zachary Braff D.D.S.

Tsunami Relief

Dear Friends of Garden State:

I have donated one of Natalie's main costumes from the movie along with the "Red Gas Nozzle" that my character finds in the gas tank of his car to a charity auction on ebay.  The charity benefits the victims of the Tsunami through UNICEF.  I realize the auction is a bit steep for many of you, but if you know anyone who can afford to contribute to this important cause, please let them know about it.

You can find the auction by clicking on this link HERE, or by going to ebay and entering the keywords "Tsunami Benefit Peapod".

As we say in New Jersey,  "Thank You"

xoxo
ZB

Smile

Okay, I'm here.
Things have been quite crazy for me lately. Here is what I'm doing:
Shooting Scrubs every day. (I'm directing my second episode next week.)
Recasting "The Last Kiss". This is the film I'm going to act in this spring. As some of you may know, Rachel McAdams was going to play the female lead, but she was unable to work out her schedule, so the part is now going to be played by Jacinda Barrett. (An amazing actress.)
Doing voices for "Chicken Little" the new Disney movie coming out in November.
Writing "Andrew Henry's Meadow". This is an adaptation of a children's book that my brother Adam and I are writing for Twentieth Century Fox.
Working on "Arrested Development". I'm going to be shooting a small part on my second favorite TV comedy on Monday.
Planning a music video for Gavin DeGraw that I'm no longer going to be directing cause I didn't agree with the label about what the video should be about.
Reading your comments. Just when I thought this blog was slowly fading away, the DVD brought it back to life tenfold.

Anyhow, that's why I'm unable to comment as often as I used to. Those of you who write sassy remarks about how I've abandoned you, please understand that I'm doing the best I can to keep on top of everything. Also, as this blog was established to be an online journal for me to share with you all what it was like to release my first film and go on the road promoting it, it's only natural that I will have less and less to say. But since so many of you remain interested (thank-you) I'll keep posting when I can. I imagine eventually I'll have to move this to my own site since Fox will probably soon evict us from their web space.

So, first of all- thank you all from all over the world for all the wonderful things you've been posting about GS, Scrubs, yourselves etc. I feel so lucky to be able to have this direct line of communication with my fans. I love it when you guys share personal stories from your own lives. So many of you ask me about writing, just skim through the comments and you'll see thousands of stories to write about. All I did was sit down and write about what I was feeling in my own life. What bothers you, what makes you laugh, what do you obsess about, what makes your stomach turn, what do you lust over? - just sit down and write about those things. That's what's universally interesting; those are the kinds of movies I like to go see: regular people in real life situations, dealing with emotions and worries I can relate to. Also, think about starting very simply; don't overwhelm yourself trying to think about the whole movie; write a scene between two people, then write what happens after that, then what happens after that. Don't get boggled down worrying about outlines and rules, just tell a bunch of stories that happen to the same group of people. And try (for lack of a better expression) keeping it real. There's a saying I really like to think about when I'm writing: "Don't do that, they do that in movies." Anytime I find myself writing something that feels nowhere close to reality, I try to stop and reign it back to what's true for me. Blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to offer up a couple of thoughts since so many have you have asked about it.

But take it for what it's worth. This is coming from a guy who got rejected from USC, UCLA and got C's in screenwriting at Northwestern.

I'm going to play poker at Donald Faison's place tonight. I lose everytime, but it is still a lot of fun. I try and learn how to be better by watching celebrity poker showdown, but it has yet to improve my game. It's really fun to have a regular game on saturday night, because saturday nights in LA aren't any fun. As in most cities I have ever lived in, the weekday nights are way more fun to go out then the weekend nights.

Okay: Amazing film to see: Maria Full of Grace.
Amazing Song to play obsessively: "Narrow Escape" by Ray LaMontagne
Insanely funny thing to watch on the net: Viral Videos on www.ifilm.com

Check out Keane on SNL tonight. (Great Band)
And please don't forget to check out my two best buddies web sites. The future of great music: www.joshuaradin.com and www.carybrothers.com

Smile, take a deep breath, it all starts going by really quickly after 28,
ZB

Remember me?

I'm still here!!!!!!
I promise I have not abandoned all of you.

Work is very crazy right now. I have next week off and I promise I'll write a nice big post.

I am so tired right now that I am lying down and dictating this post to the burglar I found holding my computer when I arrived home. We made a deal that if he typed for me, he could keep my China.  And I don't mean dishware; he's a very simple man and I've managed to convince him that I have the power to hand over the Republic of China. I must say however, he's a dynamite typist; I'll bet he'll put my laptop to great use.

Thank you all for all your Garden State love. I'm slowly making my way through the over 3000 posts!!! I realize it's been a month since I posted and I have so much to tell all of you, but just wait a couple more days.

It was exactly one year ago that Garden State premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. So much has happened thanks to amazing fans like you all.

Peace, love and a pillow.

ZB

Yub-Nub

"Ho, ho, ho!" said the pimp calling roll at the morning meeting.

Hello there everybody in blog land. I'm here with my final post of the year. For those of you that took the time to scold me for not posting more often; I'm sorry, but I feel dumb sometimes posting when I have nothing to say. But what the hell, I'll just ramble for a little bit. It's 80 degrees in LA, so I'm not really getting my hopes up about a white Christmas. Christmas is also my step-mother's birthday and to be honest I think she's a little pissy she has to share her big day with a Messiah. It's one thing to share it with a celebrity like Anthony Michael Hall or Tanya Harding, but I imagine the celebration of your birth gets upstaged when people are decorating trees in someone else's honor.

My dog has developed a strut. He lifts his back leg when he walks in what I can only describe as a "Pimp-walk". The vet told me not to worry, he just has Soul. I think it must be the new found confidence he's acquired from being in some magazines. He's also taken to humping other male dogs. He hasn't come out to me per se, but I promise to love him no matter what his choice of partner. I'll also support his right to join the military and receive same-sex marriage benefits.

I don't know much about Star Wars, but my buddy Donald Faison is an absolute fanatic. He showed me that not only did they add Hayden Christiansen's ghost to the end of "Return of The Jedi" in the new DVD's, but they changed the Ewok's song at the end of the movie!! What?! The Ewok's song was he best part of the entire franchise. My favorite part about it was that there was no Ewokese for the lyric, "celebrate the life". If you go back and listen to the OLD version, the song goes, "Yub, nub, eecheek ee wy-wy celebrate the life, yub -nub!" Classic lyrics. It's like re-writing "Let it Be" or that Celine Dion song from Titanic, it's just not done!

My new year's resolutions:
Forgo all exercise (including walking),
Learn to smoke (something thin like Capri's),
Take my loved one's for granted,
Stop washing my hands after twosies,
Laugh at babies who are late walkers,
Pull leaves off trees that appear to be flourishing,
Name the yet to be named voices in my head (something tough like Carl or Kyle)
Be less kind to bunnies,
Floss everything but my teeth,
Travel (but only around my yard and with a light carry-on)
Stop and smell the Rosens. (They're a wonderful family and absolutely compulsive about showering.)

Thank you all for your tremendous support this year. As my people say, "Shalom." It means, hello, goodbye and peace. It's like the swiss-army knife of words. It also means, "Doctor, it still itches even with the ointment." But only in context.

The Garden State DVD is out on 12/28. I'm not sure they made enough in this first batch, so pre-order if you want one early.

Just say no, stay in school, and nobody puts baby in the corner,
Peace and love,
Zachary Braff

Magic Without Tigers

Hi all!

Sorry I've been away for so long. But there's lot's to talk about.

First off, thank you all for all of your congratulations on GS' awards and nominations. Since we spoke last, the film was nominated for:
-2 Independent Spirit Awards
-2 People's Choice Awards
-2 National Board of Review Awards
-1 Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack
and a Turtle Dove in a Pear Tree.

What the fuck is a Turtle Dove? I like the sound of it. My whole life, every time I hear that song (frankly a glorified "99 bottles of beer on the wall") all I can think of is a turtle with wings holding a twig in his mouth franticly searching for a spot for Noah to dock his ark.

I "edited" the story in the last post because I thought I sounded like an asshole. But I then I went ahead and told the story on "Ellen" today anyway. (It'll be on Thursday, 12/9) I also do an elaborate magic trick on the show that will leave you wondering if my middle name is Merlin... or Roy.

Okay, so you all figured out that the super, secret guest on Scrubs is Colin Farrell. What a cool guy. He is really friggin funny and always has to be so serious in all his movies. But on Scrubs he was hilarious. He's actually hosting SNL this week if you want to check him out.

Some of you have asked me if I read other sites. No. This is the only place I read comments and post replies on the net. If you see my name anywhere else, it isn't me. Although I must say that the guys who created www.zach-braff.com have done a really cool job. I have nothing to do with that site, so I can't vouch for it's content. But they've clearly put a lot of work into it, so check it out if you get a chance.

Those of you who've had a chance to read my brother Joshua's book will be pleased to know that he's got many a Hollywood producer calling him about turning it into a movie. I'm really happy for him; he is immensely talented.

I have received a single copy of the GS DVD. I was sitting with my brother last night showing him a bunch of deleted scenes that he had never seen. I think you guys are gonna like it. I did commentary over the deleted scenes as well, so you can hear why I ended up cutting individual scenes.

Okay, I am very tired and must crash soon. But I would never dare leave you without an awesome song of the week: Squeeze - "Is That Love".

Peace, love and thank you,
ZB

Ya Better Run, Ya Better take Covah!

So sorry I haven't posted in so long my friends!  I just arrived in Melbourne after 2 days in Sydney!  Internet access has been tricky to come by, but here I am to tell you "G'day."  I'm traveling with my good buddy Joshua Radin. We're covering the continent pimping Garden State to anyone who'll listen.  Sydney was very pretty and the people are extraordinarily friendly. Unfortunately it's pretty cold and they told me it was summer, so I've been forced to wear the same mink coat everyday.

Thank you all so much for calling (916) Call Turk.  I spoke to many people. One guy even had me propose to his girlfriend for him in character.  I hope I worded the proposal right to her, or I might technically be engaged right now.  The funny thing is, she was like, "OH MY GOD!!!! Yes! Yes! Yes! ... anyway, what's going on with you and Elliot on the show? Are you guys gonna be dating again?"

And Thank You as well for voting for me and Scrubs in the People's Choice Awards.  If you didn't get a chance to, you can still vote at pcavote.com. Me and my Show appreciate it highly. Our ratings are just okay, and any recognition like that would help us.

Also, those of you on myspace.com. There is someone who claims to be me who isn't.  This is the only place I post on the net, so I don't want anyone thinking whatever that person says or does is me.

I'm off to do a show called, "Rove" tonight in Melbourne. Any of you who live here, please post cool places to go out tonight (Wednesday).

Peace and hot wet love,

ZB

Zach

People's Choice Awards

Hello all,

Thank you to those who have been writing nice things about my nominations for The People's Choice Awards. I was indeed nominated for lead in a TV series, lead in a film and Scrubs was nominated for best TV comedy.

What is particularly funny, is that in the leading man category I am nominated alongside: Brad Pitt, Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Jim Carey. Yes indeed me and my friends had a good laugh about that one. A "Fraggle" has a better shot at winning that award than me. But I'm flattered to be alongside them.

Anyhow, I imagine the PCA's will get a better voter turnout amongst young people then our presidential election, so if you'd like to vote, you can do so at www.pcavote.com.

Garden State news:
I'm going to Australia, New Zealand and Mexico City over Thanksgiving to do press for the release in those Countries and South America.

The Garden State DVD can be pre-ordered now on foxstore.com, but it will officially go on sale on December 28th.
The Soundtrack officially went Gold. I've actually got one of those cool gold records that Elvis has hung all over Graceland. (Check out Graceland if you ever get a shot. It's pretty amazing.)

Awesome Song of the Day (picked by one of you: Morning Dew)
And you guys think I don't read your posts, "Morning Dew" suggested I check out this guy, and I think he's awesome. Here is my favorite track. You can check it out at the iTunes Store (open your iTunes first):

Ray LaMontagne - "Trouble"

*Also, for those of you that watched Scrubs this week, you can actually call Turk's new cell phone number and get his machine. Thought you'd get a kick out of that.

Smile (and put your phone on vibrate),
ZB

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green

Well what can I say, it's over. I really don't want this blog to turn into a political debate; there's plenty of places on the internet for that. This is supposed to be a safe-haven for idiocy and silliness so let's leave it at that.

I'm going to be on the Jimmy Kimmel show on Friday night. I'm not really feeling like doing a talk show. (note: I never really feel like doing a talk show. It's uncomfortable and nerve-racking and I get
nervous.) However - The Shins are on. And in my estimation, they are the coolest band in the world. So I am doing the show pretty much so I can hang out with them and fool myself into believing that they might think I'm cool.

My big brother, Joshua Braff, (as many of you know) has written a book entitled, "The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green". It's a pretty amazing piece of fiction and I highly recommend you check it out. Furthermore, as he is on a book tour across the country right now he has joined the blog family and begun his own online journal at www.joshuabraff.com So please check that out if you have a sec.

So I am back from a whirlwind trip to Europe. People keep asking me how it was and I feel bad in telling them that unfortunately I didn't see much of the cities. Most of my time was spent doing interviews and trying to spread the word about Garden State. But the insides of the hotel rooms were very nice... I went to 3 cities: Munich, London and Paris. The people in all 3 cities were incredibly friendly I must say, and the film was very well received. I can't wait to go back when I can actually hang out and appreciate the experience. When I started this whole process and was told about all the places I'd be visiting, I must admit I had a romanticized impression of how it would be. But now I am here to report that press tours are no fun at all.

Oh, I just realized that I could put a picture on here. Here is a funny pic of me and Nat at the London Film Festival:

As you can see, she and I were given different memos on what the dress code for the evening was...

There was an outpouring of concern for my itchy cuticles. Thank you all very much. They are a little less itchy today, but I might still have to lip-synch my interview on Jimmy Kimmel. I hope you guys don't mind...

Peace and love,
ZB

A Simple Sonnet on Suffrage

Please vote.
Please vote.
Please vote.

This year could be the most important election of your life. You'll always remember that you were a part of it.

Please vote.
Please vote.
Please vote.

(and do it carefully; no hanging chads. If it's electric, double check your receipt.)

Your vote matters.

Peace and love,
ZB

Pieces of Tumms

Hello from Munich!

What a beautiful city. I must first mention they've swapped the position of the y and z on their keyboards here. As someone who's a mediocre typist to begin with, switching letters on a guy is a little like making him choose the right toilet in his hotel bathroom. Turns out one is for cleaning your ass. If you try it, I recommend sticking with the cold water. Things can get hot pretty fast.

The people in Munich are very friendly and the film has been received very well. It's so interesting to me, because I would have thought that the issues the film deals with would have been very American. But both British and German audiences have completely gotten the movie; laughing in all the right places.

I watched Scrubs dubbed in German the other night. It was hilarious. Especially since the guy doing the voice for Donald is clearly a nerdy white guy. I'm bringing home a tape cause I think Donald will get a very big laugh at this.

Poor Ashlee Simpson! I'm excited to tell you that this news has reached Munich. Acid Reflux huh? I get that too, you just chew down a whole bunch of Tumms. They even have tropical fruit flavors that are highly tasty. No need to go Milli Vanilli on national TV about it. But I do like the obscure ailment technique of passing the buck. Zach, why didn't you come to work today? I'm sorry - I've got soft bowel reflux - couldn't make it. Hey Zach, why did you lip-synch your appearance on Maury? I've never done this before, but my cuticles were itchy. My dad thought it would be best if I had our robot plug Garden State for me.

I'm off to Paris today. Europeans are very concerned that I will not be home in time to vote. They are as passionate about this election as we are. I assure them that I will be there on Nov. 2 with all of you.

Peace and also love,
ZB

Damn that girl is fit!

Hello from London!

What an amazing city. I can't wait to come back here and spend some real time walking around when I'm not required to do 4000 interviews a day in the same dark hotel room. I'm staying in a very nice hotel. It's so fancy; the bathroom has two toilets right next to each other. Not sure why. Seems awfully decadent to me. Either one is for peeing and one is for pooing, or it's to enable you and your loved one to go two-sies at the same time. I don't know, but I like it. The people here are very polite and they absolutely love to drink. It seems like every activity is based around when you'll drink next. Perhaps that's why they have two cans in every bathroom. They love "Friends" here. I swear, if you flick channels, "Friends" is on at all times of the day. There's like "Friends" channels!

I learned a great expression today. "Fit" It means hot! Some reporter told me he thought Nat was "fit.” I said I think she works out, but I'm not sure how fit she is. No, he said- hot! I like that; I'm bringing "fit" home.

By the way, the episode of Scrubs I directed is airing tomorrow night, Tuesday 9:30pm. I know there is a big baseball game on, but if you wanna take a break from the game, please tune in and check it out. I think it came out pretty well.

Okay, I must go try to fall asleep. I'm off to Munich tomorrow, then Paris. I'm quite buzzed, so sorry if there's typos.

Hope every single one of you is well.

Peace and Love,
ZB

Joshua Radin

Thank you all for your kind get well messages. Still have a cough that won't quit. That Nyquil sure is tasty though, huh? It's amazing when you're sick how many sure-fire remedies you get from people. One woman told me to eat an entire lemon, rine and all. I've taken 4000 vitamins and tonics and herbs, but I've still got a cough that rattles windows.

I wanted to let all of you in the Los Angeles area know that the amazingly talented Joshua Radin is performing at the Hotel Cafe tonight (THURSDAY 10/14) @ 9:00 sharp. For those of you who don't know who he is, check out www.joshuaradin.com His song Winter was featured on Scrubs and afterwards it was downloaded more than any song that's ever been on the show. Cary Brothers is even playing guitar with him, so it promises to be a very cool show. I'm a big fan of pimping new talent and I think Joshua is gonna be huge. See him now while he's still unsigned and has no burly bodyguards keeping him from signing your breasts.

Hotel Cafe
1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
(Hollywood-Selma)

I'll write more when I'm healthy...

xxxxxxxx and one o,

ZB

Large in Lebanon

Hello everybody. I'm sick, sick, sick. Directing Scrubs until 6:30 am this morning turned my little cough into a very annoying cold. If any of you would like to e-mail me some chicken soup it would be greatly appreciated. When I got home today there was a cool fax in my machine that I think would be of interest to all of you who are reading this from outside the U.S. I have the international release dates for Garden State. They are as follows.

Trinidad - Sept. 22 (I know Trinidad - crazy place to kick it all off, huh?)
Lebanon - Oct. 14 (I swear, I'm not kidding you.) (I'm huge in Lebanon.)
Poland - Nov. 5
Australia - Nov. 25
New Zealand - Nov. 25
Slovenia - Nov. 25
Venezuela - Nov. 26
Brazil - Dec. 3
Mexico - Dec. 3
South Africa - Dec. 3
UK - Dec. 10
Chile - Dec. 23
UAE - Jan. 5
Hungary - Jan. 13 (that reminds me, I should order dinner.)
Portugal - Feb. 3
Spain - Feb. 4
Greece - Feb. 11
Italy - Mar. 11
Argentina - Mar. 31
Sweden - Nov. 26 (2005)

Furthermore, the DVD release is staying where it is on December 28th.
I tried to get it moved up, but there's all sorts of elaborate reasons that I won't go into as to why they gave us that date.

Also, this site will be changing soon into a site for the DVD. I'll keep blogging on that site, if you all keep reading. Yes I just said "you all" and I'm from New Jersey. For those of you who are nice enough to correct my grammar and spelling errors, please know that I write this half asleep most of the time and I do indeed know the difference between "your" and "you're".

Awesome song of the day: "Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths.

Peace, Love, and NyQuil,
ZB

Large in Lebanon double post

To err is human. To combine all your comments into one Large in Lebanon post... well.. it's impossible. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please continue commenting on the above post.
Thanks!

Please Register to Vote!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everybody,
Just a quick hello. Tomorrow I begin directing what is by far the most ambitious episode of Scrubs we've ever tried to shoot, so I've been mad, silly, stupid busy preparing for that. In the world of Garden State, you will notice that it's slowly coming out of theaters. It will continue to wind down between now and Thanksgiving, so if there's that great aunt you always wanted to see it or that girl you don't quite have the balls to ask out but you wanted to take her to the movie cause it's romantic and you thought the odds of you getting your mack on would go up - now is the time. I'm working - at many of your requests
- at getting the DVD release date moved up a week or two from December 28th.

Other than that, it's International time. I'm going to London on 10/22, Munich on 10/26 and Paris on 10/27. More cities to follow, but those are the initial press days for Garden State in Europe. I hope they like it over there as much as you all have over here.

Voter Registration deadlines are fast approaching in this country. Do the Earth a favor today and get one person who isn't registered to vote - to register. It's so easy, they can do it in one second at Rock The Vote.com. Especially all you young folk out there reading this. The time has come for our generation to stand up and make a difference.

The only people who regularly vote in this country are old white men, we need to change that... quickly.

Peace and Love,
ZB

Too mad to "Lean Back"

Wow, quite a passionate discourse last week on the subject of irony. And all of you that claim that Alanis intended the song to be ironic cause there's no irony in the song... oh come on! Doesn't that sound like Monday morning quarterbacking? But fear not, I will not ever dare to question your Canadian Songstress again.

Onto more important things: I really enjoy washing my car in those "pull your car into the stall and rent our water, hose, brush and vacuum" places. I don't know why, but there's something very cathartic about it. If you've never tried it, give it a try. I recommend going alone, cause if you go with someone else, you're gonna be all in your head if it's someone from the opposite sex about whether or not you should go for the "slow-motion chewing gum commercial moment" and spray them with the hose. So go with someone of the same sex. Unless your gay, then you're stuck with the hose problem again. (no pun intended) Hmmm. Fuck it, just go alone. Why do you always have to do things with other people; being alone is refreshing. Washing your own car allows you to quiet your mind for 10 minutes (or more if you have enough quarters).

I saw an odd thing while there today. A guy was BLASTING the song "Lean Back" by Fat Joe from his radio right beneath an enormous sign that says, "Please Be Respectful: No Loud Music". And the guy who works there walks up to the guy and very politely asks him to turn it down. The guy just shook his head "no". And he did it really casually too. As though someone had asked him if he'd like more coffee or if he swings. As if to say, "No thank you, that request doesn't fit my needs today." I felt so bad for the "guy who asks people to turn down their music when it's too loud" guy. I mean; that's pretty much his only function. It must be hard for him to go home and tell his kids about what I imagine he's referring to as the "Fat Joe: Lean Back" incident. Every time he's out now and hears "Lean Back" he'll immediately get all pissed off. And while all his friends are dancing in the club and yelling over the music, "Hey Juan or Bob or Reggie (no idea what race he was) why aren't you leaning back like the rest of us? It's a really easy dance, all you have to do is lean back. Don't be shy, it's not nearly as complicated as the Macarana, the Humpty dance or the Hora." And he'll go home alone that night cause he was in too bad a mood to spit magic at the ladies and find his kids a step-baby's momma.

I'm directing Scrubs next week. Episode 408. This will be my first time doing it, so I'm pretty excited.

You can officially pre-order the Garden State DVD on foxstore.com. It's scheduled to come out on 12/28. But I'm trying to get in moved up a little bit, so we'll see. It's got tons of really cool extras, commentary from me, Nat, the cinematographer, the production designer and the editor. It's got about 1/2 hours worth of cut out scenes and bloopers and a behind the scenes documentary. I'm a DVD junkie, so it's a DVD designed by a DVD junkie for DVD junkies.

Song of the Week:
Fiona Apple: Paper Bag

A little trivia for you true F.O.G.S': of all the amazing bands and music I was able to get to be in GS, Fiona is the only person that turned me down. (or her manager did. I'll never know if my letter ever made it to her.) Imagine my surprise when Coldplay, Simon and Garfunkel, and Nick Drake said yes, but Fiona (or her people) said no way. Anyhoo, to prove there's no hard feelings, I'd like to share it with you. I still think she's an amazing talent and this song would have been in the movie if I had my drothers.

Favorite Sandwich: the #2

Be nice.
ZB

Ten Thousand Spoons When All You Need Is A Dictionary

Good Morrow,

It's midnight in LA. They say midnight's the new noon. I'm tired. Just got home from Scrubs and am still wiping Kabuki make-up off the backs of my ears. Talk about original moments; I think I might be the only person wiping Kabuki make-up off the backs of their ears on a show about doctors typing the word "raisins" into their blog right now. But hey- you never know.

So my big brother, Joshua, wrote a book entitled, "The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green". Check it out on amazon if you have a chance. He's an amazingly talented, funny writer and I think many of you who responded to Garden State - and read - would really get it. Even those of you who don't read will really like it; there aren't any pictures, but the font is pretty, so you might be able to get some entertainment by staring at the fancy squiggly lines we call letters. Then again if you can read this, then you should able to read that. You know when you're walking in some enormous building and you see a tiny piece of braille on a door that says "FIRE ESCAPE". How is the blind person expected to find those little bumps while trying to escape a fire?! I never understood that. I'm so thankful to the powers that be that I'm not blind. I remember when I lived in Manhattan seeing a blind person navigating their way through a crowded sidewalk. Makes you never want to complain - but feeling shitty is relative I suppose.

Funny words:
laser, Beyonce, kibble, nougat, ragweed

Funny consonants:
k, g, v and sometimes y

Funny parts of a bird:
tail, hoof

Funny fingers:
ring, pointer and sometimes thumb

Things that make wolves laugh:
when I juggle kibble, Paula Poundstone, sheep porn

Answers to questions:
I have no idea how long I'll continue writing this blog. Hadn't really thought about it.

The second song in the trailer is "Love Will Come Through" by Travis. An amazing band.

Answer to a tricky SAT word problem:
B) Jane would have serviced 11 sailors in 4 hours aboard the carrier.

Okay, so i have a couple of beers in me, and I'm rambling a little.
Does Alanis Morisette still perform "Ironic" even though it's been pointed out to her that none of her examples are truly ironic? I wonder. I like that song even if it makes absolutely no sense.

Song of the day: Turin Brakes: "Pain Killer". I promise you will love to drive your car to this song. (or scooter or hover craft or bike or transit bus - actually if you're a bus driver, put this song on and turn it way up and then don't make any stops till it's over no matter how many times people push on that rubber bell strip. They may yell at you at the time, but once the song reaches the chorus, they'll be happy and will thank you for making them realize how petty they were yelling at someone who was just trying to make them happy.)

A friend reported to me that he saw a very, very, very drunk person passed out in their own urine on a sidewalk in Manhattan wearing a Garden State baseball hat. Now I've hit a whole host of milestones this year, but I think this is a pretty important one. I once watched two wasted homeless men in Thompkins Square park wrestling over a "Les Miserables" t-shirt. Now there's some irony for Alanis to write about.

Peace, and well hmmm. nah. Okay love too.
ZB

Shredding Waves With a Golden Girl

Hello everyone,
Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. My schedule has been pretty crazy with Scrubs and Chicken Little and now the beginning of Garden State's journey to other continents. I spent saturday morning talking to some very friendly reporters from Australia and New Zealand. This fall I will be going to Europe, Australia and South America during all my breaks from Scrubs.

Again I want to thank you all for all the amazingly nice comments you have posted on this site. I do read them all even though it's frustrating that few of you seem to believe me. Let's try a little game: let's see if we can make it through one exchange of posts and comments without one person writing (even as a joke) "I know you're not reading this but..." Now it's gonna be very hard for some of you who love to post witty things not to write, "I don't believe your eyes are gazing at these words..." But let's just play a game and see if it's possible. I'm not sure that it is.

In this game, you trust me when I tell you I read your comments.

Answers to Questions:

The Kato reference is to O.J.'s pool-house dwelling sidekick.

The song at the beginning over the plane crash is a Hindu prayer to Ganesh. I heard it and thought it was both haunting and beautiful at the same time.

The reason Alexi Murdoch's song "Orange Sky" isn't on the soundtrack is because it was on the soundtrack to a popular show on the Fox network entitled, "The O.C." I haven't seen this program, but as I understand it, it's about a young woman who wants to go to rabbinical school but is forbidden since she is a woman. So she dresses up like a man - wait no, that's "Yentl". Shit. I'm not sure what it's about, but anyway the soundtrack folks decided to leave it off.

Bea Arthur and I spent the holiday weekend boogie boarding.

A great sad song to listen to over and over when you're in the sad song on repeat mood is: Rachael Yamagata, "The Reason Why". Please buy it on iTunes and don't steal it. Not for any other reason than if you're reading this I like you and I don't want your Karma to get all fucked up because you stole a song from a struggling artist.

Peace and love,
ZB

Cary Brothers

Dearest Friends,

Ultimate Friend of Garden State, Cary Brothers (the singer/songwriter who wrote the song "Blue Eyes" on the soundtrack) will be playing tomorrow night (Sept. 7) in Los Angeles at the Hotel Cafe. (1623 1/2 N.
Cahuenga Blvd. between Hollywood and Selma) @ 10 pm. If you're around go check him out. I personally think he is a genius and this is a chance to see him in a tiny club before he pops and you've only got nose bleeds at Giants Stadium. On that note, go early cause the club is small and it will definitely be packed.

Ah Labor. We love it so much we gave it it's own day.

While many of you are doing traditional Labor Day activities like attending barbecues, relaxing at the beach and burning animal sacrifices to Zeus, I chose to honor labor by actually doing some hard labor. I've been laying railroad tracks across my neighbor's infinity pool all morning. I had to stop because he started screaming at me for no reason. It might have been because he was awakened at 6am to me singing old caucasian spirituals as I swung hammer to rail.

Kites are Scary

Today I bought my Dog a t-shirt that says, "I love Bitches." I've never purchased pet clothing before and I really don't wanna be known as a guy who dresses up their Dog in booties and hats and shit, but this shirt made me laugh out loud. It's even funnier on him cause it's like a tight wife-beater. He looks very buff as he brags to the world about his love of bitches.

I also bought a new toothbrush. I'm very loyal to my toothbrushes, so it's always hard for me to make the switch over to a new one. Me and the last one have been through so much together, but alas his time had come. He looked kind of pissed at me in the garbage can. Maybe I'm reading into it, but his bristles had this judgmental frown to them. I swear I heard him mumble something to my contacts. It was faint and admittedly I have a guilty conscience, but I'm pretty sure I heard him say, "It's on tonight... let the floss and the Calamine know, we're gonna take him out in his sleep." But maybe I'm just being paranoid, they were probably just talking about something else entirely.

And now another episode of Rumor Patrol:

Rumor: They're making a Garden State tv show.
Not true.

Rumor: They're making a Garden State musical.
True. In all honesty, it's the same music and lyrics as Oklahoma, they're just calling it, "Newark!"

Rumor: Clark Kent and I are the same person; he's just me with glasses.
Not true.

Rumor: I'm dating Bea Arthur.
True.

Rumor: I saved a bus load of children from certain demise when their school bus careened off the road and was teetering on the edge of a bridge.
True. But they weren't children and there was no bridge. I actually just honked at a bus. To be honest it wasn't even a bus, it was a kite. And I didn't honk at it, I yelled at it cause I thought it was following me. It turns out I was just on an outdoor treadmill... in a park... during a kite parade.

Sleep tight, what the hell it's Labor Day - allow the bed bugs to bite.
ZB

SCRUBS PREMIERE TONIGHT

Inexcusable, shameless plug alert:

Hey all, so this TV show I'm on called Scrubs is premiering tonight on NBC at 9:25 eastern and pacific. If you happen to be home and you're not doing anything and you have a Nielsen box, would you mind watching it? Heck, even if you don't have a Nielsen box check it out. I promise to make you laugh at least once during the show. If it gets to be like 29 minutes into the half hour and you still haven't laughed I will come over to your house and tickle you. Which will be pretty awkward for me if you're a man or a child or have a big burly boyfriend who isn't exactly crazy about Jewish dudes to begin with. Basically it'll be awkward for me if you're anything but a single, legal, ticklish girl who doesn't mind strangers breaking into their house to tickle them and also (time-permitting) see if there's anything in your fridge and maybe play your x-box (no sexual innuendo intended).

Love,
ZB

P.S. Back to Garden State tomorrow.

Visions and Revisions

Hello everyone!

Sorry for taking awhile to post, but I've had a lot of your comments to read. It is truly astonishing how many of you start your posts with, "I know you're not reading this, but..." Then there are those who write, "I know you're not reading this, but... Just kidding, Zach. It's soooooo cool that you read this." Anyway, most days I really do try to read all of them, although sometimes it proves impossible. But anyway, thank you all again for saying such kind things about Garden State. The film will continue to expand this weekend onto more screens. Check out www.moviefone.com to find out how close it is to you now.

Also, check out this article in the New York Daily News.

It's crazy. Our little blog is so big time now. I feel like I should talk about important things, but fuck it - I'd rather talk about Manatees boning.

On a serious note though: I wanted to address something VERY important. Garden State is not a movie that condemns taking medication for psychiatric reasons. Please do not interpret what I wrote to mean that life is better spent without medicine. I have seen countless friends and loved ones have their lives changed and sometimes saved with the aid of antidepressants and the like. Garden State focuses on a character that was incorrectly prescribed some very serious medication at a young age and never had the opportunity to find a way or reason to come off them. He also quits cold turkey which is something you should NEVER do! I completely support medicine when it's needed. And in total honesty, this is not some paragraph I was asked to write by lawyers, I felt I needed to be totally clear with many of you who've shared some very personal things.

What Garden State's really about is how short life is. And how we get caught up in so many entanglements and insecurities and worries and obsessions and trivial arguments while life races right by us shaking it's head at how seriously we take ourselves. Keep in mind that the sun's gonna burn out in about a million years and truly nothing will have mattered.

This is all summed up way better than I could express it in two amazing ways:

The Colin Hay song, "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin". (Which is an amazing song and you should find it - www.colinhay.com)

and

The T.S. Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". Read it a couple of times, it's truly beautiful.

Not sure what else to talk about today. My tv show Scrubs premieres on Tuesday night, so that's pretty cool. Oh, on that note. This is a Garden State blog, but I feel I must address this question since it is the most asked question in my life:

Why didn't they just kill Gilligan?

No, not that. THE SCRUBS DVD?????? When is the Scrubs DVD coming out?

The answer... please spread the word and tell anyone who cares... is that Touchstone TV wants to wait until they sell the syndication rights to the show before they release the DVDs. As soon as that happens they will come out. Hopefully that will happen this season. Thanks for being patient. I know it's weird to watch everything else that's ever been on TV come out like:

ALF - puppet or prophet.

Screech - his story.

Land of the Lost - searching for Sleestacks.

I'd like to make a series of videos like "Girls Gone Wild", but it's called "Girls Gone Crazy". On my show girls don't flash their chests, they're quite literally Girls who've Gone Crazy. We see video of them stabbing each other with pens, urinating on cars, calling mailboxes "Lucifer" and other fun stuff like that.

Now for some answers to common questions:

Yes.
No.
Neither.
Like a bear.
Ashley.

Peace and, oh why the hell not, love as well,
ZB

When a Man loves a Manatee

Dear Friends,
Good afternoon,
It's a beautiful Sunday here in Los Angeles; the trees are waving in the wind, the sun is beaming and the smog tastes almost fruity in my lungs. Thank you all so much for all your kind words and for going to see "Garden State" this weekend. It's truly unbelievable how many people are going to see the film and also how many people are now posting on this blog.

Now to answer some common questions:

Who is Pat Crafty?
Some of you seem confused by the series "He's Crafty" in the Making Of section. On a typical movie set you spend a month or two getting to know a whole lot of really interesting people. Pat was in charge of "Craft Service" on our set. That's essentially things like snacks, coffee etc. Anyway, he always made me laugh with his insights and eccentric personality. He's a very nice guy and funny as hell. When I found out that our documentary crew had filmed quite a bit of him, I asked the web guys to turn it into a weekly series on the site. He has nothing to do with the movie, and yet everything to do with the movie. Meeting people like Pat Crafty is one of the great bonuses of shooting a movie.

Was there ever a different ending? (DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM: NOT A SPOILER, BUT STILL)
Please don't start posting SPOILERS in response to this. But without giving anything away, I will tell you that there was never a different ending. This was the ending I wrote. Several of you have posted very incorrect rumors. It's too the point that I had to mention something because the posts were like: "Zach, why did you end up deciding to have Large not bone the Manatee?" "Zach, in the original script, when Large deflowered the entire force of Robot Warriors, is it true that he got electrocuted when he tried to wash their leader?"

I discussed altering the ending with the studio, but then stuck with my gut. They were completely supportive of my decision and gave me final cut on the film; which for a first time filmmaker is very cool. I cut a couple scenes of Ian Holms' character out at the end, because I felt like they distracted from the love story between Sam and Large at that point in the film. I also added that fancy, motion control shot on the plane at the end of the film after Sundance because I was able to convince the studio to pay for it; we couldn't have afforded that shot on our budget.

DVD?
Not sure when the DVD is coming out, but we've already done all the commentaries. There's one track with me and Nat, and another with myself, the cinematographer, Larry Sher, my editor, Myron Kerstein, and my production designer, Judy Becker. There's also tons of deleted scenes and bloopers. It's gonna be a really cool DVD.

International Release?
Yes my foreign friends. "Garden State" is going international via a little company called Miramax. In fact, I'm gonna be on tour with the film in England from October 23rd to 26th. Then either France and/or Germany from October 27th to the 29th. Then in Australia from November 21st through the 28th. Then in Mexico and some other cities in South America from November 29th through 12/3. So the plans for international release have officially begun.

Individual Questions:
Many of you have been asking me individual questions regarding your own lives. I can't possible reply to them all, so I just picked a sampling, and posted replies. You'll know who you are...

To Sarah: Seltzer should get that out.
To Amelia: Oh no he didn't!
To Gary: Try ointment.
To Bruce: Be careful, sometimes they nibble and it tickles, but I've seen them bite.
To Karen: They like partial sun and lot's of water
To Cecilia: As far as I know, there's no noogett in Skittles.
To Lester: Uncuff him and call the police.
To Tammy: If you wanna know where he's been grazing, just smell his hooves.
To Jermaine: Jermaine, just be the bigger man and apologize to Tito.

Enjoy your day. This is the only 8/22/04 you'll ever see.

Peace, oh and also love,
ZB

Dove Latte

Okay. It's time to post. Sorry I've been away for a couple of days. Filming on Scrubs has kept me quite busy these last couple 'o days.

First of all, I cannot believe how many of you are responding to this blog. Second, I can't believe how many of you are responding to the film. Our little baby Garden State is blowing up. It makes me very proud to tell you, that due to the overwhelming response to the movie, Fox Searchlight plans to open the film up on over 600 screens this coming weekend!! That's crazy for this little movie. I just am so thrilled that so many of you are connecting to the story. First and foremost I always hoped people would have a good laugh and hopefully empathize with the characters. But the fact that so many of you are relating to the themes and subject matter is so comforting to me, because for many years when I was feeling all these feelings, I felt incredibly alone; I couldn't find many people who were "in it"... going through the mental puberty that your twenties can be. - (Or any time of your life that involves feeling long overdue for the next chapter of your life to begin.)

When I wrote Garden State, I was completely depressed, waiting tables and lonesome as I've ever been in my life. The script was a way for me to articulate what I was feeling; alone, isolated, "a dime a dozen" and homesick for a place that didn't even exist. I guess one of the cool things about the success of Garden State is that those of you out there who are "in it" and feeling all these things, can take comfort in the fact that there are so many people commenting on this blog (including me) that can relate. And as lonely as you ever feel, you are not alone.

Sorry I'm so serious tonight; I'm mad, crazy tired. I don't even have the energy to try and be funny, so I won't.

Now onto Women's Beach Volleyball:
How come no one has told me about this sport before?! This is amazing! I'm not very into sports, but this is a sport I could get into. I mean like I would tailgate and shit. I would make signs on poster board and buy a giant foam hand for this sport. Don't tell NBC, let's just keep it between us, but: These women aren't wearing any clothes! And as if that wasn't enough, they added cheerleaders! It's like watching Olympic Pole Dancing. I kept feeling like I should be feeding singles into my cable box. Forget all that color commentary for other events; the fact that some dude who dances with a balloon and some ribbon overcame his allergies to balloons and ribbon to be able to compete isn't nearly as interesting to me. If I were in charge of the Olympics, there'd actually be more than eleven people at each event. First things first:

Where is the ski and shoot guns event? That puts asses in seats! Furthermore, I'd add weaponry to more events. This is what the people want. I must write the commission tomorrow. A quick list of my ideas:

Synchronized diving -> hedge clippers
balloon-ribbon thing -> scissors
pole vaulting -> luke warm tar

Also, many of you have