BKaF – Brad Kovach and Friends

Being in college means I’ve got to be even more of a penny-pincher than I already am. I’d love to go out for coffee with my friends everyday, and there’s a whole lot of movies I’d like to buy–but I’ve got to restrain myself. But when one of my friends brought over his copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and three Wiimotes to play with, I was sold. Heck yes, I dropped a paycheck on the game (and an extra set of controllers so my roommate could play).

I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game, and it’s already been so worth it. The Smash Bros. franchise is ripe with replay value, and its unique combat system–increasing damage in order to knock an opponent off a stage, rather than emptying their health meter–makes it a little more unpredictable and fun. It’s a Grade-A party game, but just as fun to play on your own. The Wii version of the game (the third in the series) enhances the experience with beautifully-rendered visuals, a wide selection of new characters and items, and many more different ways to play.

Characters’ attacks have been upgraded as well. Instead of being cumbersome and annoying to handle (N64 version), Donkey Kong is now actually pretty fun to play. Yoshi now packs a bit more punch, and most other characters now have improved mid-air recovery moves to help them get back on the stage when they’re knocked off–very nice!

Another fun little addition: characters now have three different “taunts” (i.e., expressing your pride in kicking someone’s butt) instead of just one. Some of them are pretty funny. My personal favorite is Snake’s (Metal Gear Solid) taunt. While most of the other characters brag and celebrate, Snake just pulls out a cardboard box and hides under it for a few seconds … and then stands up. The end. … That’s just awesome.

Anyway, if you still find yourself enjoying the N64 of Gamecube versions of the game, you’ll probably want to pick this up. It’s one of those “if you own a Wii, you should own this game” kind of games.

Brad is a pretty awesome dude, and he’s been gracious enough to allow me to write on his spiffy (newly redesigned) website. I have been slacking as of late, so I’ve decided to step it up a bit and provide him (and you) with more content.

I present to you, Cooking with Thomas, a once-weekly (on Sunday) culinary tour de force! Consider me to be your tour guide. But, in all seriousness, I am not the Iron Chef, Julia Child, or even Rachael Ray. I am just a humble 18-year-old, sharing what little knowledge I have in the realm of cooking. So, buckle your seat-belt! Yes, you too. And jump on the roller coaster that is Cooking with Thomas!

This week: CELERY!

As teenagers, our diet mainly consists of peanut butter, potato chips, and if you’re me, things scraped from the bottom of your shoe. I’m sure that when you see the word celery, you’ll stop reading this article. But, for the brave few who stayed to hear me out (and laugh), I say to you that celery can be delicious! That’s right, your world was just rocked!

A little background on everyone’s least favorite vegetable. It’s long, greenish-white, and it has the consistency of a chunk of rebar dipped in barbecue sauce. Also, something few people know: Celery burns calories! But before you maniacs go and start chowing down on celery in the hopes of becoming SexyMcSlimPants, know that a stick burns like 6 calories, not the 3,500 you need to lose a pound of fat. Don’t worry though, the things I will teach you today will make celery a tasty part of your high-fat diet!

So, Without further ado, step 1:

Step 1: Gather the ingredients: celery (fresh, long stalks), cream cheese, peanut butter, raisins (if you hate yourself), and a cheese stick (or any other type of cheese, cheese sticks work best though).

Step 2: Rinse the celery off. Then chop off the huge nasty end and if there’s gunk on the front, chop that off too.

Step 3: Chop that naughty celery into three evenly-sized pieces. Or three not-so-evenly sized, whatever.

Step 4: Take the first peice, and spread some cream cheese on that bad boy! Chow down on it, like my mama is in the picture. This is a silky rich flavor.

Step 5: Grab the peanut butter and your second piece of celery!

Step 6: Spread the PB all over the second piece of celery. If you want to go the ants-on-the-log route, throw some raisins on top of the peanut butter. Eat it, enjoy the sticky sweet of the peanut butta’.

Step 7: Take your last piece of celery, and your cheese stick, and cut the cheese stick to the length of the celery. Eat the nubbin’.

Step 8: Nestle the cheese stick into the celery. It fits perfectly! Enjoy the cheesy goodness.

Bonus Step: If you’re feeling particularily daring, put all of it on one piece of celery. Oh yeah.

So, I hope you enjoyed this simple, yet yummalicious snack. It is probably one of the more complex foods you will ever make. Tune in next week for my next feat: grilled chicken!

-Tom

29 agents made their way to Thriftway on April 1st, 2008 to stun the town by freezing for 5 short minutes. Agent Mel made the video.

Watch on YouTube! (for when you’re at home)

Those present:

• Agent Kovach (me)
• Agent Pride Fighter
• Agent Silverwoman
• Agen Braina
• Agent Kenny
• Agent Bacon
• Agent PO
• Agent Big Al
• Agent D-unit.
• Agent Cooler
• Agent Bindel
• Agent Brain
• Agent Smart
• Agent KAJ
• Agent Kay-shizzle
• Agent Wonder Woman
• Agents Mr. and Mrs. Incredible
• Agent Surprise!
• Agent Wells (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Stephens (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Mentz
• Agent Tonka
• Agent Shinny
• Agent Robinson
• Agent Beth
• Agent MJ

 

 Freeze! Thriftway Highlight Film: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Video coming soon.

For those of you who may have missed it, a group of 27 participants met up to shock Thriftway by freezing, in their store for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes we unfroze and went along.

Those present:

• Agent Kovach (me)
• Agent Pride Fighter
• Agent Silverwoman
• Agen Braina
• Agent Kenny
• Agent Bacon
• Agent PO
• Agent Big Al
• Agent D-unit.
• Agent Cooler
• Agent Bindel
• Agent Brain
• Agent Smart
• Agent KAJ
• Agent Kay-shizzle
• Agent Wonder Woman
• Agents Mr. and Mrs. Incredible
• Agent Surprise!
• Agent Wells (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Stephens (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Mentz
• Agent Tonka
• Agent Shinny
• Agent Robinson
• Agent Beth
• Agent MJ

Many also showed up too late, so they just watched. Galleries and video (from Agent Mel) coming soon!

What happened?

• 6:20 – People begin showing up. First to show: Agent Braina.
• 6:30 – Agent Mel wasn’t there yet. Almost 20 people have arrived. Please sign the roll.
• 6:33 – Based on pages over the intercom. Agent Mel pages two people
  1. Randi paged: FREEZE!
  2. Audrey paged: THAW!
• 6:35 – Start trickling into the store–slowly so people wouldn’t panic.
• 6:40 – Mel shows up.
• 6:43 – “Randi, please meet your mom out front!”
• 6:48 – “Audrey, please come to the front of the store!”
• 7: 50 – Everybody giggled, met up and left.