6.16.2013

The Offspring - Days Go By

After 20+ years of music the Offspring take a moment to look to the past for inspiration for the future.


Admittedly, my liking of the Offspring has declined sharply over the past ten years. This would of course explain why I am about a year late checking out Days Go By. With their last effort, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, the band seemed uninspired and unsure of what direction to take, resulting in a fairly mediocre, loose knit collection of songs that even by their current standards was kind of bland.

Not to say that this record is on par with anything from their golden years but collectively its probably their most solid effort since 2000's Conspiracy Of One. There is some semblance of the signature sound we all know and love, but not without some caveats, to which, by now, we are all expecting anyway.

In typical post 90s Offspring fashion you get the good (The Future Is Now) the bad (I Wanna Secret Family...) and the ugly. (Cruisin' California...) However, despite following their typical formulaic musical directions the album ends up flowing as well as you could expect for the Offspring at this point in their career.

Days Go By starts promising with the first two tracks but quickly hits a bump with the album's title track which seemingly acts as the band's answer to the Foo Fighters song Times Like These. It fits well with the conceptual self reflective theme of the album, but its aforementioned musical similarity is pretty off putting.

Just as you are about to write the album off, it regains its momentum with Turning Into You and Hurting As One, which has a bit of that vintage Offspring sound, almost like something they would have recorded around Ixnay or Americana.

At the half way mark comes the cringe worthy novelty songs we all knew were coming. Cruisin' California, which sounds like a song they wrote for Rebecca Black and then just decided to keep for themselves. OC Guns is almost just as awful and just as forgettable. Of course, the Offspring was gracious enough not to hit us with both of these tracks back to back but instead they serve as book ends for the token ballad-ish song of the album, All I Have Left Is You. Its not terrible, but surely its not Gone Away either, but it marginally beats out past drivel like Kristy Are You Doing Okay?

Next up, either because they are running out of ideas, or simply to add to the nostalgic introspective feel of the record, is a rerecorded version of Dirty Magic from their 1992 album Ignition. I was apprehensive of the idea at first but after a few listens the reworking of the song isn't bad. It is much slicker, a bit less raw but it serves as an interesting touch, and in fairness it could have very well replaced a potentially bad new song or conversely they could have just butchered it. But they didn't.

I Wanna Secret Family (With You) ends up serving as a more low key novelty song but falls short of being anything memorable. While you get a sense it could have almost been a decent song, it just doesn't hold up with the albums better tracks. The Offspring can do tongue-in-cheek songs well at times, but in this case it seems like they put little effort in to it.

The album does wrap things up on a better note, Dividing By Zero again takes us back to a more familiar sound scape and Slim Pickens... despite being a more of a guilty pleasure, is an effective closer.

With the band getting older, they definitely acknowledge the passing of time and reflecting upon past endeavors with this album. While I know its frivolous to hold my breath for another Smash or even Ixnay it was refreshing to hear a conscious effort to somewhat revisit their past.

6.05.2013

What Jose Baez Thinks of the Zimmerman/Martin Case & Other Misc. Thoughts

Will George be spending more time in a prison suit? Doubt it.


With the trial of George Zimmerman almost here, I've been writing a lot about the case but I feel like I need to preface my thoughts with a quick disclaimer.

Based on the available evidence, witness statements and Florida law I do not think there is a sufficient basis for a murder change for Zimmerman. Do I think he has a valid self defense claim? Most likely. Do I think he is telling 100% of the truth? Probably not. However, that is just speculation on my part because in order to be a liar you must have proof of lies and minor inconsistencies within a story he's told at several different times is not sufficient for me. For instance, him recalling Martin approaching him from the darkness, or the bushes, the fences or simply from behind...that doesn't strike me as an inconsistency because we don't know if he is remembering things differently, or speculating or if it was simply somewhere in the darkness, by the bushes, where the fence is from behind. The human memory is not a DVR and can be imperfect in respects to accuracy and sequence of events.

One thing is for sure, I never really bought into the media narrative of the case. Too many loose ends, too much speculation, and it all seemed agenda driven. Very early in the case we were supposed to believe Zimmerman was a crazed racist and Trayvon was a scared little boy. But what facts were we basing that on? Why were we not supposed to take things at face value and assume Zimmerman thought Martin was suspicious and called police while keeping an eye on him. Why would a scared kid walk up to the "creepy" guy in the truck with his hand in his waistband? Its questions like that in correlation to the uncertainty of the fight and lack of evidence that made me second guess the narrative of the media.

Conversely, its hard to understand why Zimmerman would avoid confronting Martin from the get go, and later at his truck but instead call the police and later proceed to unjustifiably kill him when police were just minutes away and for all he knew, a dozen witnesses watching. Seems like a risky move, unless of course, you've run out of options.

The downplaying of Zimmerman's injuries have been a trend from beginning here as well. First it was omitting the notion that there was any fight at all. Then, attempting to analyze grainy police station video from the night of the shooting to try and point out there were no injuries. Once the injuries came to light, it turned into talk of how the lacerations weren't that bad and his nose looked fine and he didn't bleed that much. There was no shortage of internet doctors trying to play off his injuries like they were shaving nicks. Luckily here in the real world there is no legal preponderance as to how much you have to bleed before you can defend yourself in many jurisdictions.

As far as trying to establish an exact timeline of what happened from the moment Zimmerman connected with the non emergency number, I've abandoned it because there are too many variables and generally Zimmerman is not precise enough in his recollection of it to do so with any certainty. Did he initially dial the number on Retreat View Circle immediately after seeing Martin at the bend cutting into the complex? Did he pull over to the clubhouse and initiate the call and started to drive onto Twin Trees as soon as he connected? Did he connect and stay at the clubhouse for a period of time? Without knowing any of that I don't think any sort of accurate timeline can be created. I think we can establish some sort of idea of what happened, but that's about it.

The more important timeline, I believe, starts when Trayvon runs. We can start to piece together roughly what time he runs, where he runs to and the fact he alludes Zimmerman. We can also get an idea when GZ ends his call, and also based on Trayvon's phone records and subsequent 911 calls when the fight intensified and when the shot was fired. While it doesn't prove how things happened one way or another, its a much more useful focus than trying to account for every single footstep that lead them to behind the townhouses, when we have a rough idea of how they got there.

Ultimately, I think the prosecutors will have the same problem the Sanford police had. There is simply a lack of evidence overall with the case to prove any wrongdoing by George Zimmerman. While he may have made some poor decisions that night, nothing he did prior to the confrontation was illegal per say. As for the actual fight, we have no more knowledge of what happened now than we did a year ago. The events remain murky, but as it stands we have no evidence to dispute his claim, and even some of the evidence tends to bolster his narrative.

Prominent Florida lawyer Jose Baez recently commented on the case as well.

"The state is going to have a hard time refuting the claim of self defense- that's where the case can easily be won by the defense," Baez said. "The state not only has to put forward their evidence, they have to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence and do so beyond a reasonable doubt - I don't think they can."
So there you go. The state already has to overcome the fact they have no proof George continued pursuit and no evidence he started the fight, yet they must prove its murder beyond a reasonable doubt. On a side note, I almost wonder if state prosecutors realized from day one that had insufficient evidence in the case to even win a manslaughter charge, which has a much lower legal threshold of proof.  By putting forth a charge of manslaughter and winning, people will think he got off too lightly. By losing, they will look incompetent and unwilling to charge him suitable. With murder, they can at least look like they are attempting to bring him to justice, even if they lack crucial evidence to do so. If they lose they can just shrug it off, say they tried their best and write it off as another great injustice.

Regardless of the outcome, the overwhelming lack of evidence remains. The prosecutors have a long, uphill battle ahead, without a doubt.

6.04.2013

10 Ways To Save Money at the Pharmacy



So many generics, so little time.

Prescriptions can be expensive but the average consumer can cut their costs a bit with a little knowledge. Lets take a look at 10 money saving tips for the pharmacy that anyone can benefit from.


1)  Use this free card to save money on prescriptions!

A discount card is handy even if you have insurance because not all medications are covered. Things like vitamins and cough/cough products may not be covered by regular insurance. Although many of these cards tout huge savings of 50-90%, realistically it might be more along the lines of 20% or so depending on the exact card. Many are readily available online or you can simply ask at the pharmacy as they may have them as well. Obviously they are even more valuable if you have no insurance. One caveat that the card typically fails to mention is they cannot be used with regular prescription insurance.

2) Use branded medications as a last resort.

Your doctor may have failed to mention he prescribed you a brand only medication such as Nexium. You are shocked when you find out it is a $60 copay for 30 capsules. Don't fret because you have options. The pharmacy can likely call and get it switched to a similar generic. In this case omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole are all viable alternatives that will likely work the same at a fraction of the price. In many instances there will be similar generics even if the drug is branded. However, in some cases there really are no close drugs. It is always a good idea to try generics first and if you fail several generic medications to use a brand drug as last resort.

3) Ask for coupons.

The one upside of branded drugs is the manufacturers usually distribute coupons to doctors and pharmacies. So in some scenarios that $60 Nexium might turn out to be a deal. Let's say the pharmacy has a coupon for that drug where they pay the first $50 of your copay and you pay the rest. That would knock the Nexium from $60 to $10 a month. Just be careful and read the fine print of the coupon as lot of them aren't always a great deal, but depending on your insurance many of them can be.

4) See if 90 day supplies save money.

Many commercial insurance companies now give price breaks for 3 month supplies. For instance, a 1 month supply of a generic might be $10, whereas a 3 month supply might be $20. Most pharmacies can verify this for you.

5) Shop around.

Your medical insurance may have a preferred list of doctors to use. Your prescription coverage may have preferred pharmacies as well. For instance a $15 monthly copay at Rite Aid might be only $5 at Walgreens because your insurance considers it a preferred pharmacy.

6) Double check OTC recommendations with your pharmacist.

Doctors will recommend OTC medications from time to time for patients but they can sometimes be expensive. Mucinex for example can be pricey, usually a larger box will run you well over $20. You get the convenience of twice daily dosing but you sure do pay for it. A pharmacist, on the other hand, could recommend you something like generic Robitussin with the same active ingredients, that will help with cough/mucus. You may have to take it much more frequently but a $6 bottle can be much more cost effective for people on limited budgets who don't necessarily want to spend $20+ on a more expensive treatment.

7) Cut costs by cutting tablets.

Back when drugs popular drugs like Lipitor had no generic people loved the effectiveness of the drug but hated the price. So doctors started to write prescriptions for higher doses of Lipitor and using a half tablet daily. Typically the lower quantity of tablets meant for a lower copay. So if you were intended to get 20 mg of Lipitor daily a doctor could write a script for 40 mg take 1/2 tablet daily quantity of 15 for a 30 day supply. In one instance I remember a patient and doctor took that idea a bit farther (not to mention bordering on unethical and fraudulent) and the Dr. simply wrote him a script for Lipitor 80 mg Use As Directed quantity of 30 pills. Obviously he was half-ing the tablets, effectively getting a 60 day supply out of 30 pills, because he would get it refilled every other month.

8)  Outsmart flat fee generic copays.

A lot of older generics are very cheap and still widely used. Sometimes the actual cost of the drug might be less than your copay. In other words you may have a flat fee generic copay where regardless of the cost, your copay would be, say, $10. Lets say that you have a dental appointment and you are prescribed 1 single Ativan tablet to help you relax before the procedure. Your flat fee copay is $10 for that single tablet, when the cost is considerable lower. Remember the discount card I mentioned before? Use that instead of your regular insurance and beat that pesky flat fee.

9) Transfer Pharmacies.

A lot of retail pharmacies, from time to time, will offer a gift card for people who transfer their prescriptions from another pharmacy to theirs. So in theory you could like your existing pharmacy, but transfer a script to another establishment for a month just to get a $25 gift card, and then simply have it transferred back. Unfortunately this is not as common as it used to be, but occasionally pharmacies do still offer transfer incentives.

10) Just be healthy.

Remember, the best way to save money at a pharmacy is to not have to go to one at all. Diet and lifestyle are huge contributing factors, make healthy choices for yourself and avoid being on a dozen medications when you are 50 years old.

Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .38: Up Close and Personal Protection

A modern twist on an old classic.


I initially picked this gun up for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted an "all purpose" revolver for at home and on the go that is a suitable defense caliber. One that is small enough to conceal, but not necessarily something tiny. Also, I wanted something with a laser for no practical purpose whatsoever. Its just a cool bonus, and once I tire of it I still have a functional weapon. I didn't really want to simply add on a laser to an existing firearm, though that always remains a possibility but I just figured I could kill two birds with one stone with a factory laser equipped revolver. Not the most practical choice but hey, you only live once.

The Bodyguard .38 isn't really an ideal primary defense weapon, it has its pros and cons. But it does have enough merit to make a worthy addition to your collection, under the right circumstances. Ultimately, its going to be a love it or hate gun for most folks but for some it could definitely fit the bill.

If you are a die hard S&W purist, you will likely hate it for being configured in a decidedly non-S&W fashion. Its like driving an automatic for your whole life and then attempting to drive a stick. Shooting it will feel awkward and likely a turn off, but in fairness I think is more or less S&W's attempt to cater to the younger concealed carry market. Traditionalists will likely go back to their own tried and true models.

However, I was fairly new to revolvers so I didn't have to retrain myself or really adapt to a new shooting style. Obviously there is some guilt with not going with a more traditional choice for a first S&W revolver, but in the future I'd say there is a pretty good chance of adding another to the collection.

Shooting the BG proves to be bearable, but not something you will be spending hours at the range with. Its small, light, the kick is expected but it didn't come across as bad as I anticipated. This was with standard ammo, I would wager +P or the defensive stuff would be snappy to say the least.

Obviously given the nature of the gun, it doesn't excel at long range shots. Not to say a seasoned shooter couldn't effectively land some far shots, but in average hands you quickly realize its an up close and personal means of protection. Not something you are going to bring to a gun fight, but best described as a belly gun. Something that will immobilize an assailant that is too close for comfort or simply in tight quarters inside ones house. Not to say its by any means perfect for those applications but in many situations it will do its job.

The laser is essentially a novelty. Its not terribly accurate out of the box but is easily calibrated and once dialed in it was definitely allowing me to tighten up my groupings. However, the side mounting is decidedly awkward, as is turning it on and off. It still fun to mess with, but not ever something I'd use when the shit hits the fan.

Overall, its not a bad piece if you understand its application and its limitations. While its not my absolute favorite gun, I've developed a soft spot for it and still carry it occasionally. Sure, better guns exist but at its price point it serves its purpose pretty well.