It was thought that the Milwaukee Brewers would never be able to replace the offense of Prince Fielder. That Aramis Ramirez was nearly done and no Prince in the lineup meant that Ryan Braun's numbers would suffer. Au Contraire mon frer...Ramirez is having a great season and has just been smokin in the second half. Braun is Braun and if he can stay healthy down the stretch he should be in the MVP conversation again. Rickie Weeks has paid back Ron Roenicke's faith after his horrible start and put together a solid second half. Nori Aoki looks weird when he swings but all he does is get on base...and the pitching has been outstanding for the last few weeks as the team has battled their way back into the wildcard chase. Just four games back after last night and they have Yovanni Gallardo on the mound tonight. Oh yeah...the offensive numbers are better than last year.

Five teams are within four games of the second wildcard and it will still take a minor miracle for the Brewers to make the playoffs...but to even be at this point is amazing after where they were 3 weeks ago.

I am just about finished with James Lee Burke's latest novel "Creole Belle". I've been a fan of his Dave Robichaeaux series for years but this one is special. His main characters are noble but severly flawed and his bad guys are morally corrupt. His descriptions of not only the south Louisiana locales but also his take on the human condition are second to none. Just excellent stuff that stays with you long after you finish the books. Start with his first Robicheaux book "The Neon Rain" from 1987 and work your way forward. He also has a couple of other series that are very good as well. Just read all his stuff...you can thank me later.

Finshing up the first season of "Homeland" as well getting set for the second season starting at the end of the month. I didnt have "Showtime" when this series began but I'm glad i got it again. This is one of the best shows on TV with a great plot and excellent work from Claire Danes,Damian Lewis and the always fun to watch Mandy Patinkin. This is the kind of on-going storytelling that makes me a fan of television over movies. Also "Boardwalk Empire" returns this Sunday night for it's third season on HBO. Sunday is becoming a busy night for my DVR...its nice that they rerun these episodes at different times.

Songs of The Day  (from my I-pod)

Keep The Faith Baby-Tony Bennett & kd lang (2002) from their collabrative effort comes this old classic....smooth baby

Keep The Fire-Kenny Loggins (1979) after the breakup of Loggins & Messina, Kenny had a number of smash soft rock albums thru the 80's