Appositives economize the words

I can see lots of appositives in the news magazines.
I think the use of appositives is economic way to deliver information. Writers can put in many information without subjective and verb so that they can save ink and paper. And readers can save time. HA!

I took some examples from the Newsweek.

1)Non-restrictive

* Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister, then proceeded to name several senior security officials she considered to be enemies, Zardri said.

2)Restrictive

* Association under the formal name"dissociative identity disorder"- it is rare enough that most therapists never treat a case.

*Hunter needed eight operations over the next week to drain her infections, and an intravenous drip of two powerful new antibiotics, Zyvox and Cubicin.

I tried, but I failed.

On Saturday, in a bus , I was listening what four black boys are saying.
They were so loud, that I could hear only their voices. However, as title showed, I totally failed.
Instead of natives', I got sentence from my book.

*I was drinking soda and it went down the wrong pipe.
This phrase means when we eat food, it pass the respiratory track not the esophagus.
I often experience this because I am impatient.
*We had a blast.
It means "we had a really really good time."
Is it common expression?
*He is a total sleazebag and a womanizer
he is a really bad guy and playboy ->Is this common??