The Pioneer Press points out some, um, creative if unintentional product placement in the latest Lady Gaga video.

The University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs analyzed the speeches at the party conventions, looking at considerations such as sentence length and polysyllabic words. First Lady Michelle Obama's speech came in at a 12th grade level. That was by far the highest among presidential candidate's spouses since they started giving convention speeches 20 years ago. Higher than her husband's eighth-grade level State of the Union speeches, too.

The reclusive former frontman for The Replacements has quietly released a new piano ballad called "My Road," but there is no word on whether there's more to come.

Boat-sharing businesses are booming, in part because women are becoming more comfortable piloting their own watercraft without the hassles of ownership, the Star Tribune reports. Ladies-only outings -- including book clubs, wine tastings and networking lunches -- have become a familiar sight on local lakes.

Minneapolis-based electronic musician Mark Mallman this week is performing one continuous song and streaming it live online from the back of a van traveling coast to coast.