Chelsea handles our Q&A nicely

Chelsea Handler, star of E!'s "Chelsea Lately" late-night talk show and author of "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea," is the queen of forehead-smacking self-deprecation and celeb-smacking snappy rejoinders. She just got her show renewed, and "Vodka" is No. 4 on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives with Ted Harbert, president and CEO of Comcast Entertainment Group, which owns E!, but doesn't let that stop her from poking fun at the cable channel's star worship. Looks like being bad has worked out just fine for this Jersey girl.

Q: So you're taking a little bite out of Leno and Letterman in your time slot. That's got to be a rush.

A: I don't really consider myself to be in competition with the big boys. My show is a lot more immature than theirs. If that's graduate school, my show is more community college.

Q: Who is tops on your celeb hit list right now?

A: I've been on vacation for two weeks in Europe with no access to US Weekly or Perez Hilton, so I guess I'll find out who's on my hit list when I get back.

Q: Worst high school experience?

A: The whole time I was there. I absolutely abhorred getting up in the cold at an unreasonable hour. It ruined the whole four years.

Q: Being raised by a Mormon mom and Jewish dad, you must have some interesting views on religion.

A: I consider myself Jewish, but I don't really practice it. I'm not a very religious person, although I do believe in God and karma and tipping well.

Q: Because you live with your boss, is it hard keeping the personal and professional separate?

A: Living with my boss is fun in many ways, and frustrating in others. Mostly, because if he kills something I want to say or do on the show and I do it anyway, he refuses to do my laundry.

• Kristin Tillotson

A local- music convention

A slew of local musicians are lining up gigs around the Republican National Convention (Sept. 1-4), and it won't surprise people on either side of the fence that not many of them will be stumping for McCain. Fog's Andrew Broder and Dad in Common's Joe Selinski hatched the idea for Eight Is Enough, an Obama fundraiser happening Aug. 27 at the Turf Club with Low, members of Tapes 'N Tapes, P.O.S., Dosh, the Stnnng and more. Adam Levy, John Munson and Matt Wilson are working on ProVention, a left-leaning rally at Midway Stadium on Sept. 2 with a tentative lineup that includes the Honeydogs, New Standards, Nellie McKay (Levy's pal), the Hopefuls and lots more. Also, I Self Devine, WookieFoot, Indigo and more will join Matisyahu, Michael Franti, Anti-Flag and others at Ripple Effect, a free progressive concert that's supposed to take place on the State Capitol grounds Sept. 2. At least one event will be purely apolitical in tone: a 24-hour music-and-arts marathon called Spark24, happening over a 24-hour stretch at Orchestra Hall, Peavey Plaza and other downtown Minneapolis locations starting at 5 p.m. Aug. 30 with the Alarmists, New Congress, White Light Riot, Chris Koza, the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus and lots more.

• Chris Riemenschneider

Westerberg's '49:00' gold mine

After another four-year hiatus partially brought on by a hand injury, Paul Westerberg quietly issued a new album last weekend. It's being sold as a single-track download for 49 cents via his website (via Amazon.com). There are no song titles on it, no record label behind it and no explanation, just a hand-scrawled CD cover with the words, "49:00 ... of Your Time/Life." More weirdness for you: It actually clocks in at 43:55 and comes up as "Bling Bling" by Mac Carter if you load it into your iTunes.

Hardly the kind of mature work you'd expect from a rock vet who turns -- you guessed it -- 49 this year. But Westerberg's legacy is pretty much built on great things that weren't very well planned.

The "49:00" songs are not split up by track numbers. In some cases, they're not even split up. A few songs start before their predecessors end, and a couple more are randomly stacked on top of each other. As messy as all that sounds, it's amazing how cohesive the album really is. Any worry that the guy can't play the guitar anymore flies out the window in a string of loose rockers in the middle of the album. Lyrically, "49:00" comes off as stream-of-consciousness, and in an unforced way. Some of the songs interlock thematically, especially the handful that reference the 2003 death of Hal Westerberg, his Cadillac-salesman dad. A few wistfully reflect on family and fatherhood in general.

That's so like Westerberg, to hide some of his most touching songs ever in a package without titles and deliver them in a way that -- even at the full Amazon.com rate of 89 cents per download -- probably won't make him any money. That doesn't mean "49:00" lacks genius, though.

• Chris Riemenschneider

W dazzles

We recently got a sneak peek at what surely will be one of the Twin Cities' hottest nightlife spots, the W Hotel in the old Foshay Tower. First impression: Wow. While Manny's Steakhouse is in the mix, it's the hotel's two bars that caught our eye. The first-floor bar, dubbed the Living Room, has a 40-foot quartz bar and tons of fancy sofas for maximum lounging. Then there's Prohibition, the intimate bar on the 27th floor. It was originally supposed to be Wilbur Foshay's office suite, and the hotel has kept many of his original Art Deco touches. The bar is basically a cluster of small rooms that will be highly sought-after drinking destinations. The whole place is scheduled to open Aug. 13. (821 Marquette Av. S., Mpls. 612-215-3700.)

• Tom Horgen