Stop the drilling! Stop the oil!

This post is waaay overdue. This BP oil spill business is out of control. And yesterday another oil spill very close to home.  And now Eric's secretary is in a coma. What's with this? Nevertheless, this sensitive topic of course makes me think of SBTB. We all remember the Oil Spill episode. The gang "adopts" pets from the school's pond and care for them in their science class. Zack becomes particularly attached to a duck he names Becky. (Coincidentally Becky is also Mr. Belding's wife's name..hmmm?). One beautiful afternoon, Slater saunters into the locker room covered in oil. What happened? They were doing some work on the football field and they struck oil!  At first, the gang is thrilled, imagining a "Better Bayside" where money is no object and the teachers wait on the students. Jessie and Kelly are the only ones against it, chaining themselves to a giant oil derrick (where did they get that?) and chanting, "Stop the drilling! Stop the oil!".  A nerd named Franklin also joins in with his own original cheer, "Stop the shouting, give me a kiss!".  But do they listen to the ever-protesting, tree-hugger Jessie? Noooo.

Zack, Mr. B and Becky the Duck pre-oil spill

Inevitably during the drilling, an "accident" happens covering all the precious animals in oil. Now the gang can see the real danger in all this oil business. Not only is the wildlife in danger, but the school campus will be littered with unsightly oil derricks. Zack comes through and saves the day with a dramatic presentation for the school board, complete with squirting oil on the shirt of the oil company representative. Lo and behold, he saves Bayside once again!  The episode ends with everyone participating in the group high five that was later featuring in the opening credits.

"She's where the oil can't hurt her now"

The moral of the story is that we need to get Jessie Spano down to the Gulf Coast to rally the troops in a  rousing cheer of "Stop the drilling! Stop the oil!". That should solve everything.

Friends Forever,

AC Slater

P.S. Buddy Bands is now on Twitter! Follow @buddybands

I missed him...

I found out tonight that Mark-Paul aka Zack Morris was at a local watering hole last night...I cannot believe I missed it and even worse that he didn't call me! I mean, didn't he read this post where I specifically said "call me!"??  Apparently I need to be on Twitter to find out about these things so I am signing up immediately. I will just call it blog research.


Tweet you later!


Friends Forever,
AC Slater

Special Delivery

A few weekends ago I logged on to Facebook to see my dear friend, Melissa, had announced the birth of her daughter. Her post also stated that her baby girl was delivered by her husband and mother-in-law on the bathroom floor of her home! (this was not on purpose). Oh mylanta! Thankfully, everyone is doing great, and I did get permission from Melissa to talk about this on the blog.

After my initial shock from the news, I could only think about Mrs. Belding's surprise delivery in the elevator at Bayside High. You see, Bayside principal Richard "Dick" Belding and wife Becky are expecting their first child. The gang graciously throws them a baby shower at school where they shower them with practical gifts like a Bayside football jersey and soap on a rope. After said shower, Zack and Tori (yes, Tori - more on her here) take Mrs. B on the elevator. Surprise! Just at that moment and earthquake occurs and the elevator gets stuck. And what would you know, Mrs. B goes into labor right then and there! Zack remains calm while Tori panics due to her earthquake phobia. With Tori being worthless, Zack has no choice but to deliver the spawn of Belding. Just as soon as the baby arrives the power returns and the elevator doors open to the awaiting crowd. Thank goodness they had the football jersey to wrap up the baby. And why was the elevator completely spotless afterward? Mysterious. So Mr. Belding's child would be about 21 years old now. Wonder what he's up to.

So anyhow, this is yet another example of how life relates to Saved by the Bell. I gotta tell ya, I never thought that I would be able to relate to this episode, but here it is. And the kicker of it all, Melissa's husband who delivered her baby....his name is Zack!!! I kid you not. Read about Zack and Melissa's amazing story here.

Friends Forever,

AC Slater

Breaking News

Mark-Paul Gosselaar and his wife are getting d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d! Though I hate to ever see anyone's marriage fail, I have to admit the first thing I thought was, "oooh, now's my chance!"  My next thought was that now I won't have another chance to see him walking around my town (the last time I saw him it was because his wife is originally from here, so they were back visiting). I guess it's all about me, huh?


Here is the article with more.


Mark-Paul, I am sorry you are going through this.


P.S. - Call me!


Friends Forever,
AC Slater

Anyone Can Find Love

I will admit that I get pretty into the NBC show Biggest Loser. Who doesn't love a good makeover story? We are also doing a "Biggest Loser" competition at my work, so weight is on my mind a lot these days. This, in turn, reminds me of a Saved by the Bell episode called The Date Auction.

Saved by the Bell was always so good at addressing teen stereotypes, wasn't it? In this episode, there is a date auction where guys and girls are auctioned off like cattle for a date to the dance. Wendy, an overweight classmate (probably the only overweight student I have ever seen at Bayside, and never to appear again), bids a whopping $100 for a good time with Zack Morris. I can't blame her for this. $100 is a small price to pay for that heartthrob.

Side note - I find it ironic that the date auction is held to raise money for the skimpy new cheer leading uniforms, which might be quite unflattering on someone like Wendy (see picture)

Zack is bummed because Wendy isn't exactly his type. He makes excuses to try to get out of going to the dance with her, but ole Wendy figures him out. She ditches him at the dance, claiming she would rather "hang out by the finger foods". In the end, Zack sees what a jerk he has been, apologizes and asks Wendy to dance. And then we never see Wendy again, I guess it didn't work out between them? I am not surprised, I mean, we all know that Zack and Kelly are two people destined for each other anyway, right?

The moral of the story is, don't judge a book by its cover. Which I guess doesn't exactly apply because Wendy didn't really show us that she was cool or funny or really anything at all, except for a portly adolescent with 100 extra dollars to spend.

This theme appears again in this episode when Lisa acts like a brainiac to impress a guy (who looks like he is straight from Boyz II Men) named Brian. It is in this episode where Lisa utters that famous brainteaser, "What is art? Are we art? Is art, art?" The world will never know.

So, I guess what we have learned here is this: be yourself. Another life lesson brought to you by Buddy Bands.

Friends Forever,

AC Slater

A Christmas Miracle

Have you ever experienced a Christmas miracle? Mine happened the day Zack Morris passed me on the streets of my hometown. It technically happened in August, but a Christmas miracle none the less.

Merry Christmas from me and Zack Morris!

Friends Forever,

AC Slater

Gem Diamond

A funny thing happened to me the other day. I dropped my car off for a brake inspection at a well known national franchise brake repair shop. After they called me with the diagnosis and the $280 estimate, I said I would think about it and I went to pick my car up. As I am getting my keys back, the employee behind the counter takes a shady glance around and then leans in and tells me in a hushed voice that he can fix my brakes for $100 and slips me a paper with his name and number. Sketchy!

As I drove away it reminding me of the SBTB class ring episode (1992). This is one of the "Tori" episodes.

**Side note - ever notice how they all graduate, then magically they are back in high school for a few episodes where Kelly and Jesse are missing and Tori is there? I think Peter Engel tried to pull a fast one on us. For SBTB fans, this is known as "The Tori Paradox".**

Anyway, Zack once again screws things up by buying the class rings from a cheeseball in a puce colored suit named Gem Diamond. The cheap and fake rings turn everyone's fingers green. But boy do those kids get revenge on old Gem. They convince Screech to dress up as a ninja and scare him off. Works every time.

If I do decide to call my shady car buddy, I will definitely be bringing Ninja Screech with me.

Friends Forever,

AC Slater