August 2004

What I’m reading: “The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the boys of Crenshaw.” It’s about the greatest high school baseball team ever assembled, the 1979 Crenshaw High Cougars, from L.A. Darryl was one of the team members, and it’s just about all the kids on the team and their dreams of making it to the Major Leagues. I’ll tell you what, the Straw-man had his problems and his faults, but he remains my favorite player since the age of 6. His is a strange, sad story, I don’t know why I get so much out of it.

What I’m listening to: Sly and Robbie’s “Good Dubs”, Public Enemy’s “Apocolypse ‘91”, Pantera’s “Vulgar Display of Power.” I walked into some crazy hippie store the other day (Poop was looking for a belt buckle) and they had “Vulgar” on the CD player, it was fuckin sweet. “Eliminaaaaaaaate!!!”

What I’m watching: The Olympics. Every event. It’s the best television program of the year. Did anyone see Bob Costas talk shit on the U.S. basketball team? Yeah, they should be beating Puerto Rico, but I thought Bob was a dick. And I usually think he’s cool. He looks just like little Jimminy Cricket.

Tim and I are going to Nantucket for two weeks this Sunday. Been going there every summer since I was born, that place is magical. Looking forward to jamming on the street every night. We can make some good loot doing that. One year we made like $70 a night. One night some chick dropped in a $50. On PURPOSE. She said she was rich and could afford it. I said she was a sweetheart.

That’s all for now. I have to go water the plants. Texas is a dry m'f'er.

June 2004 First of all, all that BS Tighty was saying about “Hoag’s such a slow reader blah blah blah” is bogus. He keeps trying to diss me for not reading those frickin Resident Evil books fast enough, but it’s not that I’m reading them slow, it’s that I’m NOT READING THEM. I’m a totally average reader in terms of speed, and Tighthead, you better be careful with the shit you talk to Ras Hoag because you are an elbow away from pain, homie.

So anyway, moving on…actually no, I’m gonna use my whole update to talk shit on Tightface.

Tighty, you don’t know jack about cars, you can’t keep your shoes clean, you have to wear a lame pizza hut shirt to work, you buy fake wheat bread, you talk loud, you owe me 10 bucks, and you are a bad driver. BAD DRIVER.

BUP. peace

April 2004: What's up heads? Ever since Slammer joined the band I can't stop using the term "heads". Initially I thought it was pretty stupid, but the thing just gets a hold on you and you find yourself saying it.

“Heads.” How ridiculous.

I won’t use this space to tell you what’s going on musically with full service, because that info is all over the site, so I’ll spare you “getting the memo twice”, if you will.

What’s occupying my time now? This un-tight cold I’ve been battling for about 5 days. I can’t do any of the shit I like to do. I can’t go out and run around with Frisbees and basketballs, I can’t sing, I don’t have the energy to slay, and I can’t go near no herb.

(“Why don’t you CRY about it!!”---Tim)

So last night I rented “Timeline”, a movie that was out in the theaters for probably 7 minutes. It’s a film adaptation of the Michael Crichton masterpiece by the same name. Hey Poop, remember we read that shit in Nantucket?

What’s in my CD player? Sublime’s “40 oz. to Freedom” (I can’t stop listening to “Badfish”. The guitar solo on that is nuts. As Tim noted, there’s so much reverb on it that you can just barely make out the notes he’s playing).

I’m also listening to a lot of Percy Sledge when I go to sleep. For those of you who don’t know, Percy Sledge was a singer back in the 60’s (I think) who sang songs about heartbreak and love. His backing band has amazing feel. Their most famous tune is “When a Man Loves a Woman.” I love the fill that drummer does right before the chorus….BOP!---“When a….MAAAAAAAN loves a WOOOOOMAAAAAAN!”

I think I’ve been listening to so much Sublime and Percy because those two singers sing with more soul than anyone I’ve ever heard.

What am I reading? A lot of sports illustrated, and a book called “A Primate’s Memoir.” It’s about a guy who studied and lived with baboons in the wild for about 20 years. I love monkeys. Next time I’m born I plan on going to grad school and getting a grant to do field studies on some type of animal. I remember back in college, I used to blaze up and go to the TV room, which had cable, and watch Animal Planet’s “The Jeff Corwin Experience” until 3 in the morning. I always thought Jeff Corwin had the best job. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s a gas, check it out.

We had a party the other weekend, which was a big success. It was mostly my homies from Austin’s Pizza, where I work, and we just hung out in our campgrounds-like backyard drinking Bud Light and smoking Bud Not-So-Light. We plan on having more in the future. And Danny (landlord), if you’re reading this, please don’t trip. It’s not that loud, and we have a good time. You should come over next time. I know you like to get busy on the booze and dizzy on the dank.

See ya’ll next time.

---Hoagman

November 2003: What's up everybody this is Hoag. I'm 23 years old, born August 27th, 1980. When I was in 4th grade, my brother Tim (aka Snick) started taking guitar lessons. Pretty soon after he started taking guitar lessons and figuring out Motley Crue and Guns n Roses tunes, I got the copy-cat syndrome as younger brothers often do—and decided to learn an instrument so I could play "Dr. Feelgood" too. So my mom took me to the local music store to sign me up for drum lessons. She bought me a pair of tiny, matchstick-thin 7A's (the writing on them was purple...such flavor), and a little practice pad. The next night, as "High Enough", by the Damn Yankees, played on MTV, I began fashioning a make-believe drum-set out of the sofa cushions. Not long after this, my parents bought me a used $500 black Tama set, and my drum teacher started teaching me beats. The first song I learned how to play was Paradise City. Holy shit that was awesome. So Tim and I have been jamming together since we were 10 and 12 years old, which explains our musical synchronicity.

Besides music, in high school I was really into sports, particularly lacrosse. I was asked to play for a few college teams, and was accepted to Yale, where I ultimately decided to go. I quit the lacrosse team after one practice, however, when it hit me that playing a Division I sport would basically make it impossible for me to dedicate any meaningful time to music, which I had come to realize was my true passion. I had a great time at Yale. I managed a little Grille called The Dive, which introduced me to a ton of dope people. That was senior year, and it sucks that I didn't find The Dive earlier in my matriculation.

Nevertheless, I was eager to graduate. Throughout college, Tim and I spent our summers playing street hockey with The Association, running a small landscaping business that Tim started during high school (Chekeppa Landscaping-"We Do Good Work"), and jamming in my oldest brother Tyler's vacated bedroom. (Ty's 28, with a wife Jen, and two kids. What up to my godson, Mack, and my niece Lily Grace. You can catch Ty in the New York Times Sports section, he's the beat writer for the Yankees). Anyway, during those jam sessions, Tim and I realized that we needed to bring these tunes to packed houses. It was getting a little ridiculous slamming ou these bad-ass grooves, and having no one around to hear them. (Except for the neighbors 7 doors down the street, who showed their gratitude for the free So we made a decision that after I graduate, we'd move to a city with a good music scene, and go for it. We wanted to go somewhere sort of far from home, because we didn't want to have any distractions. It was tough making that decision, because we had tons of friends (The Association) who we'd been homies with since Kindergarten. (All of this is referenced in "Goonies." ). However, we knew we'd have to go out on our own if we wanted to succeed in our dream of bringing the Full Service flow. It was for this reason that I was not, like many college graduates, dreading entering the "real world." I knew exactly what I wanted to do, had known for 10 years, and I couldn't wait to get it all going.

Favorite Cereals: Cheerios, Quaker Oat Squares, Cap'n Crunch

Favorite Movies: Baby Boy, Citizen Kane, Legends of the Fall, Pre-Fontainte, Poetic Justice, Dr. Strangelove, Ace Ventura, Old-School, Meet The Parents, Bottle Rocket, Zoolander, Shanghai Noon, The Matrix, X-Men II, Batman, Dumbo, Winged Migration, S.W.A.T.

Favorite Drummers: Brad Wilk (RATM), Dr. Dre, Carlton Barrett (Bob Marley and the Wailers), Chad Sexton (311), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, etc.), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Steven Adler (Guns n Roses), Pat Wilson (Weezer).

Favorite Albums: Uprising (Marley), Rage Against the Machine (self-titled), 311's blue album, Weezer's blue album, Vulgar Display of Power (Pantera), Rubber Soul (The Beatles), Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys), Doggystyle (Snoop Dogg), Get Rich or Die Tryin' (50 cent), The Chronic (Dr. Dre), Guns n Roses (Appetite For Destruction), Nevermind (Nirvana), Cypress Hill (self-titled).

Here's a list of some "Favorites":
Favorite bands/artists: Rage Against the Machine, NWA, Bob Marley, Tupac, 311, Weezer, Pantera, Snoop, 50 Cent, John Denver, Cypress Hill, The Beach Boys, Percy Sledge.