The Daly show

The Daly show Actor and activist Tim Daly, whose wife Amy Van Nostrand is starring in "A View From the Bridge" at the Guthrie, has another reason to visit the Twin Cities. As the new co-president of the Creative Coalition, a Hollywood group whose causes include arts education, health care and homelessness, Daly will lead a delegation of film notables in film to the Republican convention. While the group's membership leans Democrat, Daly doesn't fear a chilly reception: "When I've been to Washington for arts advocacy, the Republicans have been very receptive and impressed. They're just more apt to need financial reasons to make their decisions. The irony is that Republicans like to put celebrities in office -- Schwarzenegger, Reagan, Sonny Bono, Fred Thompson. The Democrats in some ways are smart enough to know that actors don't make good politicians." And why is that? "Because they're too ... narcissistic," he said, laughing. A quality that is foreign to politicians, of course.

KRISTIN TILLOTSON

Legit? Or time to quit? Last Friday, MC Hammer seemed to relish rhyming his name with the event that brought him to town, Glamorama. The former hip-hop star recalled spending a month in the Twin Cities, recording his 1991 album "2 Legit 2 Quit" at Prince's Paisley Park. Trouble was, when he delivered the disc's title tune during his performance at the Orpheum Theatre, he was lip-synching -- probably so he could pull off his shake-it-all-over dance steps. Hammer always had a questionable reputation as a rapper, but his rep as a dancer? Well, you can't touch that.

JON BREAM

The Battle of Minneapolis Zack de la Rocha seldom gives interviews, but he spouted off this week about the presidential race and his show with Rage Against the Machine Sept. 3 at Target Center during the Republican convention. "I think that it's an interesting moment," he told the Los Angeles Times. "The lowest approval rating in the history of any presidency -- and for Congress. There's this interesting rupture developing, and I think it's a healthy one." Last time Rage played a convention, it was a free show at the 2000 Democratic gathering in Los Angeles that ended when police shot tear gas into the crowd. De la Rocha's advice for those planning to see the Target Center show: "Good shoes would help. And you might wanna dip that bandana in some vinegar."

TIM CAMPBELL

Hot seat Dealing with a leg injury, Black Blondie frontwoman Samahra Linton wasn't so fast on her feet, but she was still sharp with her tongue last Friday at the Triple Rock. Linton spent most of the set leaning on a chair, and at one point decided to straddle it. "I wish Janet Jackson or Paula Abdul were here so I could consult them on some moves," she cracked. Then she realized her skirt opened up to the crowd. "Oh good, I wore underwear tonight. Now all you can see is Hello Kitty instead of my own kitty."

Memory backup You may have heard that David Carr, nice Hopkins boy turned abusive crackhead turned successful daddy, New York Times scribe and bloggers' darling, has written himself a little memoir. At No. 21 on the NYT's bestseller list, "The Night of the Gun" is outselling U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "Know Your Power." In town last week for book-flogging events, Carr trotted out his famous ability to spout steal-worthy phrases. On why he recorded interviews with those-who-knew-him-when: "My own memory couldn't be trusted, so I had to make sure everything was triple-riveted."

KRISTIN TILLOTSON

Professa Dessa After touring the country and selling out First Avenue with her Doomtree crew, rapper Dessa is used to college-aged fans fawning over her. Now they'll see her in a whole new way: in the classroom. The 27-year-old has taken a faculty position at McNally Smith College of Music, teaching composition. "I'm tweaking out -- I have so much to do!" she told I.W. as she took a break from working on her syllabus while trying to finish her next album. Her students will dissect lyrics by everyone from folk poet Leonard Cohen to indie-rapper Aesop Rock. While it's hard to imagine Eminem or 50 Cent in the classroom, Dessa is no stranger to academia. It took her only three years to graduate from the University of Minnesota with a philosophy degree, plus she taught classes at Minneapolis music school IPR. She doesn't expect her students to show up with shiny red apples: "At IPR, I had foolishly imagined that I would walk into the classroom and these students would think that I was hip because I was a rapper. [But] for them, I was a teacher just like any other."