Saturday night/Sunday morning, Prince, now 51 years old but preternaturally forever young, tore it up over three hours like a cutting-edge artist who now seems content to operate as the best retro-funk band leader on the planet.

Three factors seem to be combining to hold down voter interest as Mayor R.T. Rybak seems a lock to win re-election handily in an 11-candidate field. The city's new ranked-choice voting system appears to be a major factor.

Come Nov. 2, the lone noise from the Uptown Bar will be that of the wrecking ball (relocation rumors continue to swirl), but for one night anyway, this is the way it was.

TORONTO — Tonight the pair engage in a dialogue at the Walker. "A Serious Man," the Coens' 14th feature, opens at the Uptown soon — and the other 13 are in the Walker's Coen retrospective, "Raising Cain," which runs through Oct. 17.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Vice President Walter Mondale last night offered pointed advice to President Obama as he attempts to prod Congress on health care and a plethora of politically difficult legislation: Push harder. And Mondale acknowledged that he agreed with former President Jimmy Carter, who recently said that racism was behind some of the criticism of Obama.

Thousands of Minnesotans — mostly pro-Obama people — headed to the Target Center for a chance to hear the president articulate his health-care hopes and rally the faithful.

Related: Remarks of President Obama at the rally
Slideshow: Photos from inside and outside the Target Center rally

The Chisago Lakes area, where Sue Leaf lives, is not exactly a hotbed of literary action, but her efforts — including a new collection of essays — raise provocative environmental questions for the community and elsewhere.

The 6th District congresswoman has stirred new controversy with her recent "bloody" remarks against health care reform. Both her supporters and detractors say her verbal fireworks are meant to raise both money and her national profile.

NEW YORK — In Minneapolis, Osmo Vänskä gets bigger applause just walking onstage than most conductors do when leaving it. Now, after concerts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, he's getting kudos in New York.

Two films are highly recommended — and, at least on the surface, nothing alike. One of them is rated R, the other G, but both are about boys looking for love.