Expert Pharmaceutical Reviews

I've been battling a sinus infection off and on for the last few weeks, and with the first round of antibiotics making less progress than Sir Walter Raleigh did in Roanoke (I love colonist humor, even if you don't), I've been taking on all comers with other remedies, both medical and otherwise. I'm talking everything from Sudafed and Saline spray to self-applied acupressure and waterless vaporizers. I'm not sure how someone versed in logic managed to fall for that last one considering the product name itself is a contradiction, but I'm a sucker for good marketing as much as the next guy. And the next guy is an idiot.

After numerous failures, I finally decided that instead of taking pills, sitting in saunas and imagining my life with clean sinuses, it was time to go on the offensive with these Neti Pots I'm hearing so much about. Hell, it seems to be turning into a viral sensation given the amount of search results the term attracts on YouTube. The kit comes with an instruction booklet that's about the same size as the one for my TV and includes 50 packets of their exclusive blend (it's table salt).

The gist: you tilt your head and dump salt water into one side of your nose, it runs through and cleanses your nasal passages, then flows out the other side. Then you repeat on the other side. Frankly, it sounds ridiculous, because most people do this by accident a few times a week in the shower and, unless you wear nose plugs, you do this every time you go swimming. I don't hear about those being suggested as cold remedies. I guess I should know better than to question the gods of alternative medicine (I just assume they're polytheists) though, because I haven't breathed this clearly in weeks. Granted, I've kind of been leaking salt water out of my nose for the last hour, but it's a small price to pay to enjoy the crisp and fragrant autumn air of Los Angeles. Also, you don't have to prove to the cashier that you're not a meth-cooker to buy this. That's always embarrassing.

I highly recommend this if your breathing feels off, or if you just want to impress your friends. Other effective solutions involve living somewhere with clean air, sleeping upside down, and invasive surgery.

Syllable Counting 14

A Day To Remember What Separates Me From You (Victory)

I want to hate this,

but it's so loud and catchy.

Victory still sucks.

Anyone Want a Car?

I'm finally getting ready to sell my loyal 2001 Ford Focus. I was hoping to hang onto the car long enough to enter it in the 24 Hours of LeMons Arse Freeze-a-Palooza race at Buttonwillow next month (we even had a racing team domain name set up and everything) but, sadly, that wasn't in the cards. It's been neglected on the streets of Sherman Oaks since September, which has actually yielded a couple of casualties. The driver-side side view mirror went missing rather quickly, and a couple weeks later someone hit my car with a tub of nacho cheese from Taco Bell. Yes, that actually happened.

It's really hard to imagine someone else calling this car their own. I've put over 160,000 miles on it. It's the car that I drove 35 miles each way to my CIA internship, the car that collected over two dozen parking tickets at Virginia Tech (I had a thing for faculty spots), the car whose stereo John, Mike and I rebuilt in the freezing cold in Virginia, the car that made it across the country with John in 2 days, the car I embarrassingly drove off the edge of a ramp at UC Riverside with Bree, the car that's had a spare box of Trivial Pursuit cards in the trunk since 2002, just in case...

The car has a broken windshield, no stereo, a rear window that won't go up, a flat front right tire, bad engine lifters and the AC needs a recharge. It's going to take a superhuman marketing effort to get this thing sold, and hopefully it'll go down in history next to this car.

It's even harder to imagine the next 160,000 miles on my new car. I'm honestly not sure VW's actually last that long anyway, although they ought to given their price. So far, the only memory created with my new car is Casey getting it up to about 125 MPH on the back roads of Carpinteria. Whatever.

I think it's time for a road trip.

Evolution of a Pop-Punk Band

Have you seen the new Runner Runner video? I honestly hope the best for all the old Over It guys, and always have since I met them 10 years ago. They still stand as the only band that ever came to my parents house for a punkrocks.net interview. We all know that, new or old, they write better melodies than just about anyone, but when I watch this new video immediately followed by something from the earlier Over It days, it genuinely makes me want to cry. Try it with me...

Runner Runner - So Obvious (2010)

Over It - Wrongway (2002)

I'm only 29 and find myself thinking about "back in the day" in music terms far too often. I'm hoping to turn that around, but bands like Runner Runner make that awfully difficult. Couldn't they just write a kick-ass country record or something so I would never even notice?

Syllable Counting 13

Jimmy Eat World Invented (Interscope)

Trying to like this,
but I'm just not feeling it.
Like unsalted food.

Syllable Counting Pairings

Girl Talk All Day (Illegal Art)

Always infectious.
Daft Punk/Rage/Black Eyed Peas mash...
You know how it goes.

Syllable Counting Reassembled

Chiodos Illuminaudio (Equalvision)

They used to be lame.
New singer and drummer yields
two pretty good songs.

Amuse-bouche

Restaurant Providence on Melrose in Hollywood. That's a mojito and a screwdriver, obviously.