Hogvan - Skins vs. Bucs - Slideshow

HOGVAN - Game 2 - Week 4 - Skins vs. Bucs 09' from HOGVAN on Vimeo.

Skins sink Bucs

8:30am Sunday - The hogs assembled at the Harris Teeter near Ballston Mall, groggy but ready for the game ahead... The Hogvan set record time making it to FedEx Field in (no bullshit) 15 minutes! Hogvan cometh. We parked next to the D-41 Crew and set up shop. The 32" LCD was set up and worked great! Dan Snyder's evil OTA transmission blockers must have been down that day.

Ross, my pops, set off on a photo-jounalistic style hunt for the best tailgate. His findings varied in degrees, but everyone shared the common twisted bond of being a through and through skins fan... Please check out some of the photos, they are ridiculous. My personal favorite was the homemade port-o-let these people set up about 3 trucks down. Please take notice of the mini dallas helmet near the base of the urinal, classic! Another great tailgating moment was when Superskin joined the Hogvan, as pictured. Many shotguns ensued. It was a long day. By the end everyone was exhausted and some sprawled lifeless on the parking lot. The downfall was after loading the van, the reserve gas canister's lid popped off, spilling fuel into the cabin of the hog, which actually helped knock out the back 3 passengers for the duration of the ride home, sorry for that Coco, Marcelo and Drex.

I also need to mention that the Hogvan went under serious renovations merely 1 day before. Todd Finnerty of Finnerty's Garage, myself and Drex, worked through the night on Friday removing everything from the dash to the headliner to install all new speakers and a new head unit (sans tape deck) into the Hog. Thanks, Todd & Drex! There will be a further post on this renovation with pictures later on.

Hail
The Hogvan

Gearing Up for the BUCS!

Hogs,

Let's just forget about last week. It never happened. 3rd game of the season losing to the defeated since 07 Lions was not what anyone planned for. Honestly, who cares?! If anything, it'll light a fire under the skins ass to pick it up big time this week! Better now than later I say!

But, if you don't share my sentiments and are already losing faith in our beloved skins, at least you can always count on the Hogvan to give you a great day at FedEx win, lose or draw...

What can't cold beer, good friends, tons of bbq fix? Oh yeah, and now the Hog has a 32" HDTV on board. The ultimate companion to the "outdoor living room" we will be premiering at the Skins v. Bucs game this weekend! If that's not enough, I'll be bringing PS3 with Rock Band and Madden to add to the killer pre/post game experience. Hell, if you don't want to go into the game, or don't have a ticket, no worries, the hog tailgates all game long...

Looking forward to Sunday...

Hail
Hogvan Cometh

HOGVAN - Season Opener 09 - Rams

Well, we won. 3 field goals is hardly an offense, but enough about the game...

The tailgate went great. Somehow, everyone got on board the hog (sans Devin, who we had to pick up at his house... and he was naked) by 9am... It turns out even at 930am the green lot can get pretty filled up... next time we'll be going out a little earlier to ensure a grass spot. We were relegated to a center pavement spot, and the hog was displeased by this. Hogvan proceeded to take 2 spaces despite the parking lot officers best efforts to contain it to one. Hogvan cometh.

We all forgot cameras so there are no photos of this historic voyage to FedEx, but it was a blast. The ribs burned a bit, but so did our souls when we barely escaped a win against the pathetic rammys.

Hail

HOGVAN SIGN UP SHEET!!! RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW!

TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT, PLEASE SEE BELOW.
Reserving your spot is on a first come first serve basis. For immediate results, please contact the Hog via email.

EMAIL - THEHOGVAN@GMAIL.COM

Include:
YOUR NAME
THE GAME
YOUR EMAIL & PHONE NUMBER

PAYMENT:
$42.00
To Secure your spot, please paypal your money to bstansfield@gmail.com
Otherwise, I accept check, cash, and cashiers check 1 week BEFORE the reserved game! Thanks!

HOGVAN AMENITIES:
Transportation To and From FedEx Field with a Tailgate Parking Pass
Food (BBQ, hot dogs, hamburgers and all your tailgate favorites -- MENU @ BOTTOM OF PAGE)
Drink (Beer, Soda, Water, all you can drink)
TV (For those of you who want to just tailgate and watch the game at the "outdoor living room" aka the Hog Van tailgate goes all game long!)

Hogvan Picks Up @ East Falls Church Metro Station (Tentatively) 4 and a half Hours before game time, drops back off an hour after the 4th quarter ends.

All this and more for $42.00 per person per game!

Hail!

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EAGLES GAME IS SOLD OUT! - If you would like to go to the Eagles game, there is a chance someone could drop... please email me and first come first serve on the waitlist!

All games have a first come first serve policy for open games and waitlist.

More interior updating

Okay, so the Hog is still being updated... Today I got a shipment of the skins spare tire cover, flags, steering wheel and of course fuzzy dice. After a week of painting the interior with a Washington Gold Satin paint, Lindsay flat out told me it looked like shit and that I should get the high gloss paint. I didn't believe her. We went to home depot where they had paint samples. I believed the paint samples and got the Washington Gold high gloss. The painted sections were then sanded back down to the wood and repainted in 3+ "coats", not layers, like I like to call them (thanks photoshop). The fresh paint made the paneling "pop", just like Shawn Johnson's Ortega taco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms5d9RN0WzY

Also, the "rape curtains" will be replaced with Skins cotton fabric which will be sewn by miss hughes. The van is coming together and the schedule will be posted soon, first come first serve.

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Future Possibilities

Mifi - Mobile Wifi - Hogvan wireless
http://moremobileinternet.com/verizon-modem-cards/novatel-mifi-2200/

Apparently it's $40 or so a month for this on a 1yr min. subscription to mifi service with verizon. It's not worth the money now, but if the Hogvan becomes a fleet of Hogs, it could be... Just an idea, I'm sure in a couple years this will be standard in all vehicles.

Does anyone know if a digital converter box will actually work to pick up signal at FedEx, I assume it will, but haven't bought a box or done any testing... please comment back on this...

Another thing is, I'll need a generator to power the TV. If you have an extra one/one for rent/borrow let me know or know of a solid cheap one. PS3 and Rockband will be coming to the game too!

Interior Facelift

The Hog Van's interior is undergoing renovations this week, starting with the conversion wood paneling. This has involved removing each piece of paneling from the doors, curtains, and dash, as well the as overhead light and ac unit panels – it’s been a slow process. I have had to sand down each panel to get rid of the glossy stain and then I have painted with each piece with three coats of Washington Gold NFL paint.

It's extra tricky/sketchy to be unscrewing the paneling in the garage of my parking lot, and even worse to be taking a trash bag containing all of the pieces down the garage elevator and then into my apartment elevator. Once in the apartment, I have virtually no room to paint these panels so I've made a sad attempt at a painting station, using every available inch of counter space in the kitchen. Three coats of paint later and I'm still wondering if I need a roller...

The fuses have been replaced and the limo lights are once again operational. I found a matching door handle, however the portion inside of the door has been stripped, so that's the next part to be replaced. Also, the hunt for a replacement G20 grille is still going on... if you have a G20 grille, I'll take it off your hands.

The next interior project for the Hog Van is the sound system. Right now there are stock speakers in the dash, two random center speakers that are dead and two rear Jensen speakers. I hope to replace the four center and front speakers with new ones, add a mediocre head unit with aux in, and hopefully a cheap sub to give the Hog some bass.

Eventual updates might have to include tint or replacement curtains with Skins material... Lindsay, I'm looking at you.

Maiden Voyage - HOGVAN COMETH

Thursday Aug. 13th - Redskins @ Ravens Preseason 7:30pm

Last night, the hog made its maiden voyage up to Baltimore for the Skins first preseason game of the 09-10 season! Pretty ballsy considering this would be its longest trip I've ever taken it in, with the added risk of 6 people on board. I filled up the tank, apparently last time I didn't fill it all the way. The G20 has two models, I assumed I had the 22 gallon standard, nope, the hog has a 33 gallon aquarium of a tank. Fierce. Also, super expensive, $72+ to fill it.

Went to Target to get some pre-game supplies... Bud Light Lime was on sale for $6.05 for a 12 pack... Now I know you're going to say, who the hell drinks bud light lime besides those trendy looking californians in their commercials, well, I'm here to say, don't knock it until you try it... BLL is basically like water with a hint of lime, great for drinking in the sun. Chips, ice and coolers were added to the giant truck space of the hog. The Hog purred with anticipation.

Picked everyone up, and made followed Susan, my GPS, to Ravens stadium, with a slight 20 minute detour down West Virginia Ave. NE, possibly the most ghetto neighborhood I have ever been in, to get to New York Ave. Thanks, Susan, way to think it out! Unscathed, the hog snorted full steam up 95 with 5 skins fanatics and Lindsay, the sole, yet vocal, Ravens fan. Lindsay was decked out in her Ray Lewis jersey and armed with a thick Balmer accent that got worse the closer we got to M&T bank stadium. Thanks BLL!

It was pouring rain on the highway and finally cleared up past Columbia MD. The tunes were blasting out of the old school tape deck and the Hog was happy. We got to Baltimore at 730 on the dot and found parking past Camden Yards at the top of a parking garage with a great view. A bunch of BLLs later and the crowd was ready for the game. Sadly, the Skins decided to go scoreless and embarrass everyone wearing burgundy and gold. The excuse of "it's only preseason" and "it's basically a practice" were heard mumbled by the majority of skins fans, others were too intoxicated to make remarks. Yes, it is preseason, but it still was an embarrassment. The middle school football teams we saw playing at half time score 2 TD's each in less than 10 minutes... I mean WTF?! Not even a field goal?! A safety?! A free throw!?

The only positive that came out of the game was that the HOGVAN COMETH!

We drove back to DC in radio silence. Stunned by the game, but proud to be in the comfortable embrace of the hog.

HOGVAN COMETH.

HogVan Day 2

HOGVAN - Day 2

(Also, day 1, I took the van out with my girlfriend, Lindsay, the battery crapped out because I left the lights on in a parking lot, luckily across from Sears Auto. We got a new battery and fluids, coolant was totally gone. Lindsay installed the battery like a badass. The van was revived.)

It was time to see exactly what this beast needed to keep running and pass safety and emissions to get titled/plated in VA. I also, insured the vehicle, figured that was a good idea.

First stop was Jiffy Lube for a routine oil change... Since this 94 Chevy G20 is a custom conversion van, the air filter was too far back in the engine block to remove without a large fee... I settled on just getting fresh oil.

Next stop was emissions/safety... Went to a local exxon and was subjected to August heat with no AC for a couple hours. Finally the van got inspected, took over an hour. Fingers crossed, somehow the van passed emissions on the second try but the safety came back with some minor fixes, such as burnt out side marker lights and front headlight and the front driver side door handle which was broken when I got it, needs to be replaced. After the replacements, the door handle still didn't get fixed because the threading was stripped on the inside of the handle, but the guy passed me for safety with a warning saying to pick up an extra handle at a junk yard asap! I'm still opening the door from the outside with the window down... If you have a G20 van and have an extra handle as well as center grill let me know!

Next stop, DMV. Went to the express DMV and signed over the old title, got a VA title, plates, stickers and registration. The Hogvan was a dream no more... She was proud to be legal and a Virginia resident.

Craiglist Pics of the Hogvan