Shake It Off

I haven't quite caught up to the hour we lost over the weekend, but I'm enjoying the warm weather (supposed to hit 70 today) and extended daylight. Of course, the chilly temps are coming back on Friday with the possibility of snow. Whatever happens, spring will be here soon.

Make with the bullets:

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was carried live Monday night on VH1 Classic and the highlight for me had to be R.E.M.'s set, which had the band back with original drummer Bill Berry and playing classics like "Begin the Begin" and "Gardening at Night," and "Man on the Moon." They sounded terrific, but things got even better when fellow inductee Patti Smith joined them for a ripping version of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog." That riff is so simple but so compelling. I actually found some tablature for it online and was playing it while watching the Leafs game last night. Such a cool song. Smith was very appreciative during her speech, and told heartwarming stories about her late husband and mother, right before tearing into a vicious version of her classic "Rock and Roll N-----." I bet Jann Wenner and the rest of the HOF flunkies were getting palpitations, and I had to wonder what the African-American members of the audience who likely had never heard the song before were thinking. But Al Sharpton came out right after Smith and gave a tribute to James Brown, and all seemed right with the world. The Van Halen induction was strange, with only Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar in attendance. Velvet Revolver performed a perfectly mediocre version of "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and another song I couldn't recognize from the Van Hagar era, and then Hagar and Anthony played "Why Can't This Be Love?" with Paul Shaffer and the CBS orchestra. Too bad David Lee Roth wasn't there; apparently, according to Velvet Revolver lead tool Scott Weiland, DLR wanted to play "Jump" with VR, but they didn't have a keyboardist and wanted to do "You Really Got Me" instead, so Dave decided to pass. Too bad.
• The Leafs gutted another win last night, 3-2 over Tampa after taking a classic 4-3 OT win Saturday night against Ottawa. They're sitting in ninth place right now in a dogfight for the eighth and last playoff spot. Hopefully they can keep winning.
• After losing their last three regular season games, the UNH hockey team blew the doors off Providence last weekend with two shutouts. They play UMass on Friday evening for the right to go to the Hockey East finals.