Learn Something New

A Fresh Start to podcasting

tootalltonyv@gmail.com (Tony Vogt) — Mon, 7 Jun 2010 23:39:00 -0400

Final Fantasy XII Tips

tootalltonyv@gmail.com (Tony Vogt) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:17:00 -0400

Here's a tip for you, go out and buy the damn strategy guide. It helps a bunch.

No, but seriously, Here's a few tips for those of you that are getting stuck earlier on. After playing a bit, you'll notice that your party size gets dropped from 3 to 2 after you become L'Cie.

1. Libra: This will become one of your best friends in the game. It only costs 1 Tech Point. While not having to control your entire party may have it's benefits, one of the best benefits is Libra. This lets them know what your enemy's weakness and strength's are.

2. Chaining: You'll notice that once you can stagger your opponent, the battle becomes so much easier. In order to stagger the opponent you'll need to chain-attack a single enemy. Having a Paradigm of RAV-RAV, you'll notice that it gets the Stagger meter up pretty fast but most of the time, it drops down just as fast. So in order to fix this, use a paradigm of COM-RAV. The commando's physical attacks won't boost the bar too much but it will prevent it from slowing down. Once you get the bar to about 50% depending on what their stagger point is, change to RAV-RAV, to get it the rest of the way.

3. Forgot to equip something, or use your CP to get the latest ability? No problem, just hit start, then select retry. This will bring you to the party menu so you can rearrange things before you try the fight once more. Very helpful if you're fighting against a certain element and you have an accessory that will help you take less damage from that element.

Just a few things here, but that should help those of you who are just getting into the good parts of the game and have a little bit of a hard time defeating some of the tougher enemies.

The Scars Will Last Forever

tootalltonyv@gmail.com (Tony Vogt) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:33:00 -0400

My fiance and I argue every now and then, as all couples do, but this most previous argument was pretty bad. Now, most people, and some experts, say that if you can't disagree with one another the relationship will not work out as great as those who are able to disagree/argue. I find this very true. It all happened on Monday night. We had the day off from work together, spent the day relaxing and just enjoying each others company. She started getting tired, but I wasn't. That's where a lot of our arguments stem, me not being able to fall asleep at the same time she does. Well, the argument got really heated and I said a few things I probably shouldn't have while I was mad. I definitely should have waited until my head was cleared and I was calm.

The next day I'm surfing the net while she's at work and I come across this story "The Nail In The Fence." It really hit home. Later that night I told her about the story and apologized, sincerely. I couldn't take the pressure of knowing that she's probably scarred inside, even though when we woke up the morning after the fight, we weren't mad at each other. I knew she was still hurting inside...

Anyway, here's the story.(Click on the Title to visit the original site)

The Nail In The Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it; and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there." A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Pissed off Rant

tootalltonyv@gmail.com (Tony Vogt) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:50:00 -0500

You'll have to excuse me but this is just something I have to do. Back stories will follow as soon as i have the time.

My fiancee's brother lives with us. He's 16 years old and every now and then I just feel like I want to beat the crap out of him. Now, i'm not a violent person, only violent tendencies...maybe thats a sign that i need counseling. Her brother has anger problems and depression. What teenager these days doesn't right? Well, every now and then something will make him tick and he'll start cleaning the house and then he'll sort of yell at me for not doing anything around the house. I find this quite amusing yet appalling. Amusing because when I do my share of the house cleaning and ask him to help, he gives me a big attitude about it and it doesn't get done for another 3 days. Appalling because who the hell is he to tell ME that I need to clean the house. I pay the rent, not him. We let HIM live with US. Now tell me, who's right and who's wrong in this situation...cuz i'm dying to know!

A Dying Breed

tootalltonyv@gmail.com (Tony Vogt) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:14:00 -0500

Growing up, I would watch television just because I enjoyed it. Whether it be for the comical pleasure it brought me, or maybe it was because it brought me out of reality for that half hour or so that the show or cartoon was on. I'm starting to lean more towards the latter. We don't realize it often, but as a kid, we had our share of emotional and mental problems to deal with. It could've been that bully at school, the loads of homework that our teachers would pile on us, or just not getting things our way.
Regardless, I would watch these cartoons, or these movies and think, "Man, if only I could be Cody(from Step By Step) for a day." These characters inside the TV screen became my idols and I somehow thought of them as immortal. If you would've told me back then that in 15 years, that some of these T.V. or movie stars would be dropping like flies, I'd proceed to tell you that you were bonkers. But it's happening.

River Phoenix, now he died in 1993 but i didn't find out until about 5 years ago. His claim to fame was Stand By Me. The older brother of Joaquin Phoenix, was also a singer/songwriter. After his death, Red Hot Chili Peppers featured him in their song "Give it away", {There's a River to be a giver, keep you warm won't let you shiver, his heart is never gonna wither...}

Jim Varney, 2000. A little more well known, and a little more recent. He starred in the "Ernest..." series of movies. This guy was definitely one of my favorites

Rosetta LeNoire, 2002. She played Estelle "Mother" Winslow in Family Matters, one of the many shows i loved.

Johnathon Brandis, 2003. Famous for his role in "The Never Ending Story" series of movies.

Fred Rogers, 2003. Everyone, I'm sure has seen "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" once or twice in their life...

Brad Nowell, 1996. Lead Singer of Sublime. Just when I was beginning to love his music he went and passed away.

Corey Haim, 2010. Most recent of the bunch. His claim to fame was "The Lost Boys" and "Lucas" It's a terrible shame, too, because he was just starting to get his life back together.

These were just a few of the celebrities that passed away within the last 20 years that have impacted my life in one way or another. If I missed anyone, feel free to mention so in the comments.