Nobody likes to make predictions, as they inevitably risk the possibility of being wrong, however I'm going to stick my neck out and report on some first hand on the ground knowledge I've picked up. I think Olivia Chow, the NDP incumbent, is going to lose on October 14th to Liberal candidate Christine Innes in Trinity Spadina in downtown Toronto.

I've spent more time living in Trinity Spadina than any other riding, and I have many friends and family who still live and vote there. In fact Emily still wishes we lived in the riding so she could vote for Olivia Chow.

Whenever there's an election on you can guarantee I'm going to be active. When I was younger I would volunteer all of my free time for some party or candidate that I wanted to get closer to. This election I'm mostly doing non-partisan stuff, and talking to people informally and in social situations.

What I'm hearing in Trinity Spadina is that traditional NDP voters are switching to either Liberal or Green. One person I spoke with today who voted for Innes in an advance poll this weekend had voted NDP almost her entire life.

Anyone who has owned a used BMW knows that while they are wonderful machines, they can also be expensive to maintain, and having a good relationship with skilled mechanics is essential. I have been really fortunate to know some great people, honest and exceptionally talented, who have helped me learn incredible amounts of info about BMWs.

I've already introduced my readers to my friend and BMW artisan Geoff Reid, and now I'd like to take the time to introduce you to my friends Jamie DeWolfe and Frank Apa who own and operate Eurotech Import Auto Service.

The guys at Eurotech have been helping my dad with his car, but also his racing car (a converted e30 328i), and as a result my dad spends almost all his free time there. Whenever I drop by and visit the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming.

It seems almost every day I think of a blog post to write yet I can never find the time due to an incredibly busy summer. Mind you I'm quite happy to be working as much as I am and engaged in all sorts of exciting projects. However I must make a greater effort to share what's in my mind as it helps me keep track of when my thoughts change and evolve.

Today I thought of a few posts to write, and the easiest and thus first to see the light of day, is a thought about my spiders.

Today's my birthday, I was born 3.3 decades ago, at around 6:10 in the morning. I've always enjoyed my birthdays. I tend to take the time to reflect on this day, remembering where I came from, while thinking about where I'm going.

On some levels identity is fluid, always changing, yet on the other hand there are constants that go through our lives as threads that bend but remain relatively the same.

Legendary Canadian Golf Professional Herb Holzscheiter is an incredible and endearing individual. Playing out of the Weston Golf and Country Club, Herb is both an excellent golfer and a warm friend.

This speech by Herb was part of the award ceremony of the H/H Scramble held May 9th 2007 at Weston GCC. It offers a glimpse of his wit and charisma, something people close to Herb treasure and adore.

Filmmaker Robin Benger is someone I've grown quite close to in the past year. I admire both his work, and his general perspective, I hope to collaborate with him in the future on all sorts of projects.

Emily and I made our annual trip to Chicago this past weekend for American Thanksgiving. Explicitly we go to Palatine Illinois to visit Emily's grandfather Fred Pohl, and other members of the maternal side of her family. The last two years have been road trips as we've driven from Toronto to Chicago. Last year the weather was nasty, with all sorts of conditions ranging from fog, to snow, ice, rain, sleet, hail, you name it.

Recently, to celebrate Emily finishing the first draft of her second Natalie Fuentes novel, we took a quick road trip out to the Atlantic Coast of New Hampshire and Maine. I'm really getting into doing long drives, and we went at just the right time as the colours of the leaves were perfect.

I've previously written about my buddy Geoff, and the help he's given me in learning about and properly maintaining my car. I like Geoff so much I wanted to make a video with him discussing why he thinks used BMWs are such a great investment. I'm really lucky to have someone like Geoff, and certainly encourage anyone in the Toronto area with a BMW to go to Geoff (647-234-0626) and have him take care of your car!

This is the first video that I made with my Nokia e70 camera phone. Emily and I were driving against rush hour traffic to go visit her dad at the Trillium hospital in Mississauga. We were both amazed at how totally clogged the QEW was, and thus made this short video expressing just that!