The Yale University Library holds a medieval manuscript written in undecipherable code, in an unknown alphabet, in an unknown language, and it contains detailed drawings of more than one hundred plants none of which have ever been positively identified. Named after a bookseller who purchased it a century ago, the Voynich manuscript has been called the world’s most mysterious manuscript.

Scholars think that the Voynich was written somewhere in Europe but it is unknown by whom. The text of the Voynich is of no help in determining authorship since it has never been decoded, and some of the world’s best cryptographers have tried. But as the old saying goes, “One picture is worth a thousand words,” and the Voynich manuscript is packed full of pictures. From these drawings, I have concluded that the authors of the manuscript were Cathars, a sect of religious heretics that prospered in southern Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. Specifically, the evidence is as follows:

a) in at least two different places the Voynich depicts Cathar women performing a baptism-like ceremony known as consolamentum, the only sacrament of Catharism. The Cathar Church had no formal clergy so a lay clergy of both sexes was empowered to perform this sacrament.

b) the Voynich depicts the round table of the governing lay clergy of the Cathar Church both in the European winter (mixture of men and women fully clothed) and at a summertime resort (now only naked women sitting in the circle). In sharp contrast to other medieval religions, women played a major role in the Cathar Church.

c) the Voynich depicts a European fortress with a round tower capped in a cone, exactly like the conned towers of the still-extant Carcassonne fortress, which was once a stronghold of Catharism and today is noted for its museum of torture, housing the original equipment used to convince the Cathars to repent.

d) though the underlying alphabetic characters of the Voynich are unknown, the manuscript utilizes recognizable accent marks: three different Voynich accents (the hook accent, the bloop accent, and the crossbar accent) can be found in the Homilies d’Organya, a manuscript of the old Catalan language, that is, a member of the Occitan family of languages spoken by the Cathars.

e) some of the women in the Voynich are depicted wearing an unusual top-of-the-head hair style, the same hair style seen in Europe in a medieval painting that depicts the Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne.

Moreover, please note that because of severe persecution by the Inquisition, the Cathars, more than any other people of medieval Europe, would have had a need to write in code. The Inquisition burned all the Cather literature that they could lay their hands on, so it unknown if, once upon a time, there were other manuscripts written in the Voynich script.

Radiocarbon experts from the University of Arizona have dated the Voynich manuscript to the early 15th century, between AD 1404 and AD 1438, which gives us a great anomaly. The Cathars –all half million of them– are believed to have become extinct by the early 14th century, wiped out by the papal Crusades and Inquisition torture chambers. There were no known survivors except for reports that a handful of Cathars narrowly escaped the massacre at Montsegur in AD 1244, carrying with them the sacred relic of their faith. Apparently, neither these escapees nor their treasure (believed by some to be esoteric texts or the Holy Grail) were ever found.

The mystery compounds itself when we observe that no European botanist has ever identified any of the more than one hundred plants depicted, in great detail, in the Voynich manuscript. This raises suspicions that perhaps these are not plants of Europe after all but of some other place. Given the enormous diversity of exotic plants depicted in the manuscript, one place that quickly comes to mind is the Amazon rainforest of South America. This could also explain all the naked women seen in the Voynich manuscript, i.e. the survivors of Montsegur fled to the tropics where clothing was not particularly necessary.

I was elated when I found a picture of an Amazon plant with pointed green leaves and bunches of red berries that looked just like one of the Voynich plants, but then I discovered that similar plants exist elsewhere. The Voynich, however, has some extremely peculiar plants, so much so that they are suspected of being purely fictional concoctions. One such plant can be found between pages numbered 2 and 3 in the Yale PDF file, which is available online. I found a modern photograph of that plant and acquired rights to post it on my website, where I am currently awaiting the opinion of professional botanists on whether or not it is the exact same species.

It is doubtful that this plant –a tropical underwater plant of odd shape with one floral offshoot but lacking branches and leaves– could even survive in Europe let alone be found there. Whether by disease, headhunters, or perhaps intermarriage with the natives, no Cathar settlement in the Amazon rainforest survived to see the arrival of the Conquistadors, but the Voynich manuscript nonetheless raises the intriguing possibility that the French Cathars reached the Americas ahead of the Spanish, by more than two hundred years.

I learned the 6 P’s of success from my mother. When I was 12 years old my mother started a non-profit youth entrepreneurial organization called Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs Today. Her main purpose was to keep me and my friends off the streets and out of gangs.

For 12 years she ran a nationally recognized organization that received awards from the city and county of Los Angeles, the state of California, and from Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. She had the non profit of the year for the United States. There were thousands of kids who were impacted through her program.

The foundation of her non-profit were the 5 P’s of success (I added one more P). Her P’s are:

1. Passion ( I added this P)
2. Prayer
3. Patience
4. Persistence
5. Perseverance
6. Productivity

I have been earning money as an entrepreneur since I was 9 years old. From watering grass to owning my own vending machine company. I have done catering, network marketing, and real estate. I discovered that passion is a key ingredient. Passion makes the sixth P. Some of these business paid for my prom, college, professional licenses, and exotic vacations. The 6 P’s work.

Here are the 6 P’s of success.

1.Passion: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything

In my 20’s I was all about the money. I went to school, got scholarships, investing in real estate, trade commodities, and was in management at UPS. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur but I was looking for the quick buck. I made the quick buck and lost even quicker.

I wanted the shortcut. I raised money for real estate projects that never came to fruition. I worked at a job I hated, and started companies in niches I had no business being in. It took me years to find my passion of writing and speaking.

When I worked for a event staffing agency at USC and UCLA football games I noticed the passion these young players had. Passion was evident in their coaches, parents, and their fans. For the players and the students this was a short term event in their lives. These players and students would graduate and move on. But for that moment they had passion.

Passion is a must your business. I see so many people start a business because they went to a seminar, a friend asked them, or they stayed up late and so an infomercial. I have made the same mistake many times. Don’t follow the money follow your passion.

How enthusiastic are you about your job? How excited are you about your debts and living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have that same attitude about the business you are in? Are you working in a position that fits your skills, talents, and strengths? It took me until I was 35 before I started living my passion.

Passion is the fuel that keeps you going when the sales are slow, when you lose out on contracts, when the affiliate company shuts down, and the city will not approve your plans. Passion propels you to take your dreams and turn them into a reality.

Before someone joins my team I ask them what their passions are. I want to know that they have a passion for internet marketing. If they don’t I don’t need them on my team. Our passions have to align because when adversity arise I want them to stick it through.

Don’t fret if you are not working in your passion. Find out what drives you and get into it ASAP! I missed out on years of enjoyment because I limited myself to making money and not working in my passion. Find your passion.

Choose a business and make sure you work in your skills, talents, and strengths. I never thought I could make money writing and speaking. There are a lot of people who achieve success and wonder, “Is that all there is?” Don’t be that person.

2. Prayer: a devout petition to God or an object of worship.

The definition says a devout petition. Devine guidance will lead you to success. George Washington Carver prayed everyday about a little peanut. Numerous products came from his inventions of that peanut. Because of his devotion to prayer he created new industries from his discoveries.

This is not a discussion about which religion is right. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is my savior and I will leave it at that. Do develop a relationship and spend quality time with your creator. Prayer has saved me from mistakes. Prayer has guided me and it is a key component in the 6 P’s.

Prayer can lead you to breakthroughs with your business. This is where your hunches and ah-ha moments can come from. Quiet time and calmness brings clarity. Why not spend it with a higher power. Don’t like the word “Prayer”. Then find some meditation time. Call it whatever you want.

3. Patience: the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

“God I need patience and I want it now!” I have struggled with patience. I want things to happen now and fast. In our society of instant gratification, text messages, 24 hour news channels, and get rich quick schemes, people expect success NOW. You are bombarded about losing weight in 5 days, make $10k this week, and get it now with no payments until next year.

My mother preached TTTT. These Things Take Time. The law of seedtime and harvest is always in effect. It takes time to test marketing campaigns, for escrows to close, and to build a list of clients. It requires patience to build relationships. Have your 90 day goals stretched to six months?

Passion and prayer gives strength to your patience. Patience does not involve being passive. It takes fortitude to keep marketing when the funds are low. Patience helps you study the trends so you can capitalize on it. Patience is listening to mentors and people who have traveled the road you are on.

Developing a long term perspective is the key to patience. Delay instant gratification and keep your end result in mind. If doctors can spend years in school you can do the same mastering your business.

4. Persistence: the continuance of an effect after its cause is removed.

That pesky word that people hate. Persistence is the active part of patience. I can remember my mother persisting with her organization. Bringing in the funding, the sponsors, the events, and busing kids in from the local schools for entrepreneur expos.

Persistence was the key to me getting my real estate license, writing over 100 published articles, and posting 600 blogs. Persistence is planting the seeds and tilling the ground until you can reap a harvest. Persistence is asking for the sale, constant marketing, and communicating your vision of your company.

Here is a lesson on persistence:

· Mark Victor Hanson’s book was turned down 300 times before he and his partner went on to sell 500 million books.

· Abraham Lincoln encountered lost elections, the death of his sweet heart, and failed businesses before he became the 13th president of the United states.

· John Elway lost 3 Super Bowls before he won back-to-back Super Bowls before he retired.

Persistence will serve you well. It is your best friend in life when you intentionally use it to become successful. Would you tell your child to quit trying to walk after they fell down? Look into your past and see where persistence has helped you conquer obstacles. How did it feel? Also look at where you should have persisted. Sometimes all it takes is one more try.

5. Perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

In order to persist you must persevere. Remembered the failures I listed above. Those people persevered. John Elway had three of the worst losses as a Quarterback for a Super Bowl Team. He got crushed by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXI.

He was out played be Doug Williams, in Super Bowl XXII where Doug Williams broke Super Bowl records and the Washington Redskins posted the biggest margin of victory in Super Bowl history. He was outplayed again in Super Bowl XXIV where he was outplayed again by Joe Montana’s record breaking performance.

Three humiliating losses. Did John Elway quit? No! He continued to play and 8 years later he won his first Super Bowl and the next year his team won again. This is a great example of perseverance.

Roadblocks are on the road to achievement. Setbacks are a part of life and a process in your business. Logically setbacks make sense but emotionally we don’t think they will happen.

Disasters are going to happen. Losing your biggest client, your downline deserts you, escrow didn’t close, no one showed up for your meeting, or your presentation was terrible. It’s going to happen. The question is how will you respond? How quickly do you get back on your feet? Will you keep pushing forward? This is what perseverance is all about.

Recall the moments you persevered. It could be a project that took years to complete or that last rep in your workout. You have wins and these wins build your confidence.

6. Productivity: the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services.

Are you productive? Plain and simple you have to produce to succeed. You don’t make money until you sell something. Your focal point is productivity and sales is your priority. Bottom line is you generate traffic, that produce leads, and those leads convert to sales.

Bring productivity to your sales teams and downlines. Busyness is not being productive. Focus on Income Producing Activities 70% of the time and your business will thrive. Put in systems to help you become more productive.

Even a one person empire needs systems in place. You, as the rainmaker need to practice Do It, Delegate It, Defer It, or Delete It. You can outsource, hire your kids, or use technology to make you more productive.

These are the 6 P’s of success that I learned from my mother and practice today. She still uses them in her business at the age of 74. Implement and teach them to your family, friends, and team.

It was a dark and rainy night. The courthouse clock struck midnight; a stray dog howled. It was all too beautiful when the staff of Gear Vault convened for their semi-annual secret meeting with the confines of the beloved cinder block chamber they call their “office.” Their agenda? To decide the 20 most important people in guitar.

1. Jimi Hendrix

Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix’s meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang. Hendrix was the revolutionary guitar god, enuff said!

2. Edward Van Halen

Edward Van Halen once likened his guitar playing to “falling down the stairs and landing on my feet.” Eddie’s had thirteen albums’ worth of such happy accidents and in the process has changed the way people play, hear and think about the electric guitar. With his unorthodox technique, dare-devil whammy bar antics and fearless experimentation, Van Halen revitalized heavy guitar after it had run its course in the Seventies. Espousing an I-just-play-that’s-all-I-do attitude and favoring basic gear like stock Marshalls. Peavey 5150s, homemade, slapped together guitars and simple, minimal stop box effects, Van Halen became guitar’s greatest hero by becoming its unassuming anti-hero.

From the jaw-dropping gymnastics of Van Halen’s “Eruption” to the eerie, tidal crescendos of “Catherdral” on Diver Down, through his 1984 chart-topping synth experiments and spirit of 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Eddie has remained innovative throughout his career. Never one to wait around for the electrician, Van Halen prefers building his own gear-and if it doesn’t always look pretty, well, beauty is in the ear of beholder. By “Frankensteining” his first striped guitar from $130 worth of parts, Van Halen launched his quest for the elusive “brown sound-“big, warm and majestic”-and gave rock guitarists a new holy grail of tone to seek in the post-Jim-my page era. His single-pick up and volume control innovation changed the way guitars looked and sounded, popularized the previously obscure Kramer Guitars, and inspired the do-it-yourself guitar gear industry. Eddie’s custom-designed Peavey amps and his with Sterling Ball on his Music Man guitars prove that Van Halen still believes the artist should retain creative input on his equipment.

As a player, Van Halen single-handedly-well, dual-handedly-introduced millions of rock players such exciting techniques as two-handed tapping and harmonics. Before 1978, guitar just had to be loud and fast. Eddie’s playing is also tasteful and always in context, a fact that distinguishes him from his legions of imitators. While he’s unimpressed by the copycat syndrome, it cannot be denied that many players first picked up a guitar after Van Halen’s dazzling licks. But none of them can fall down the stairs with such brilliance.

3. Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton has successfully reinvented himself dozens of times: Rave-Up King with the Yardbirds; Holy Father of the Anglo-blues with the Bluesbreakers; free-form improvisational genius with Cream; chameleon rises to every musical occasion.

By 1965 the 20-year-old Clapton was already a legend. He’d introduced the blues to the masses, interpreting and updating what had been a largely unknown form for the rock generation. Simultaneously, his lush, Les Paul-driven tone marked the absolute turning point in the history of rock, transforming what had been a good-time twang instrument into a vehicle for profound expression.

Ultimately, the most enduring image of the great guitarist will be of Clapton the bluesman, standing on a corner of a stage and exposing his psychic wounds to the masses. It is interesting, though, that, while “bluesy” in feel, his most memorable songs-“Layla,” “Tears In Heaven”-do not utilize the blues structure.

While most of Clapton’s contemporaries talk reunion and revival, he never retreats behind memories of his “good old days.” His Unplugged album, which was enormously successful-both for him and acoustic guitar manufactures-included a radical remake of “Layla.” Clapton is one artist who has learned how to grow up.

4. Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has spent very little of his career playing six-string guitar. But as a bassist, he almost single-handedly made guitar players’ jobs a whole lot easier.

When the Beatles first arrived on the scene, rarely was the bass even heard on most pop records; players seldom attempted anything more adventurous than a root-fifth accompaniment. But McCartney, who not only played bass, but sang, enlivened the Beatles’ material with dynamic, moving basslines on his famous Hofner and, later, a Rickenbacker 4001. By the time the Beatles began work on Sergeant Pepper’s, McCartney as pumping out bass melodies that carried entire songs, with the result that the Beatles’ guitar parts often became sparser, more subtle. Within months-and to this day-bass players the world over were unshackled.

5. Pete Townshend

Before Pete Townshend came along, feedback was something guitarists shunned like halitosis. Pete turned it into one of rock guitar’s most powerful sonic resources.

Soon after The Who debuted in 1964, Townshend became legendary for violently slamming his guitar into his Marshall stack (a form of amplification he was the first to use) and smashing his instrument to splinters at the end of each show. All of this had a profound influence on Jimi Hendrix (aka The Guitar God #1) and just about every other rocker who ever picked up a guitar. Pete’s trademark “windmill” strum was actually swiped from Keith Richards. But Townshend made it even bigger and more dramatic-which is what he and The Who did with just about everything they touched. Having mastered the art of the three-minute pop song, Townshend turned his attention to 15-minute mini-operas and, with Tommy in 1969, the worlds first double album rock opera. Townshend’s songwriting genius and theatrical flair tend to obscure the fact that he is also a fine guitarist, as capable of supple lyricism as he is of angry mayhem.

6. George Harrison

When George Harrison strummed his first chord during the Beatles’ historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan show 44 years ago, he became the catalyst for the electric guitar’s metamorphosis from stringed instruments to tool of teenage liberation. And, as the folks at Gretsch and Rickenbacker will readily attest, it didn’t exactly hurt sales, either.

While Harrison has never been a virtuoso guitarist, he was an innovator-constantly pushing the limits of studio sounds and stylistic boundaries. In many ways, he also was the first modern session musician, his chops as diverse and far-reaching as Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting. He could dish up brilliant Scotty Moore-style rockabilly (“All My Loving”), heart-rendering gut-string lines (“And I lover”) and sheer fuzz and fury (“Revolution”)-always adding something memorable to the material. Later in his career, he developed an original slide style that is more melodic than bluesy. Like the Beatles as a whole, Harrison never settled into a comfortable groove. He glided across the musical spectrum-from country and western to spaced-out psychedelia to smooth and sweet slide-shattering conventions and then moving on.

7. Angus Young

Two decades after Angus Young first emerged AC/DC’s axe-wielding dervish at age 14, the we Scottish Aussie remains one of the sturdiest bridges between young metal-ists and rock’s blues roots. Although he did great work before and since, Young will always be best known for 1980’s Back In Black, a blue-collar masterpiece which, with killer classics like “You Shook Me All Night Long,” remains an all-purpose primer for riff writing and tight, scalar lead playing. Never mind the fact that the man does it all while spinning around like chinchilla on speed. Though he may be dwarfed by his signature oxblood SG, Angus Young is a giant among men.

8. Jimmy Page

Arguably the most emulated guitarist in rock history, Jimmy Page is additionally assured a place in the music’s pantheon of greats for his roles as a musical director, produce and all-around guru of Led Zeppelin.

His Rampaging, blues-based work on anthems like “Whole Lotta Love,” “Communication Breakdown” and “Rock And Roll” defines heavy metal. His real genius, however, was his ability to expand the parameters of the genre to include elements of traditional English folk, reggae, funk, rockabilly and Arabic classical music.

Page the guitarist has never been a facile as Edward Van Halen or Steve Via, but few players in rock history have been able to match his restless imagination or visionary approach to guitar orchestration. Whether he was exploring the exotic joys of open tuning on tracks like “Kashmir” and “Black Mountain Side,” pioneering the use if backwards echo on “You Shook Me,” or coaxing other worldly sounds from his ’58 Les Paul with a cello bow on “Dazed And Confused,” Page consistently transcended the limitations of his instrument and the recording studio.

More than 30 years have passed since Page recorded the seminal Led Zepplin IV, but the album’s gigantic imprint can still be detected in the work of such cutting edge bands as Jane’s Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden, to name a few. Page, of course, remains active. His dense, mutli-layered work on the Coverdale/Page record demonstrated his refusal to rest his laurels.

9. Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain was the intense and unkempt grunge lord who brought Nirvana from obscurity to the top of the charts, was all the rage-literally. The king of the guitar anti-hero, he didn’t play his Fender Jaguars but he mauled them in a chord-crunching fury. Inevitably, he smashed his guitars, littered stages around the world with his splintered victims.

Cobain was a guitar pioneer because he managed to fuse into one dynamic style the aggression of Seventies punk rock, the speed and simplicity of Eighties hardcore and the bottom-heavy crunch of Nineties metal-and done so without a trace of silliness or bombast to which all three genres are prone.

There’s little doubt that scores of new players have been inspired to plug in by the chugging chords of Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Segovia he wasn’t. But Segovia never captured the angst of an entire generation with one burst of ungodly feedback.

10. David Gilmour

What makes David Gilmour truly remarkable is his uncanny ability to marry two seemingly contradictory genres-progressive rock and blues. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this unusual union can be heard on one of Pink Floyd’s biggest hits, “Money” (Dark Side Of The Moon). As the song begins, Gilmour slowly builds a delicate network of spacious, effected guitars, only to topple them with a series of emotionally charged, vibrato-drenched solos, whose rich, shimmering tone and impeccable phrasing recall B.B. King, rather than King Crimson.

Gilmour is the rarest of rockers. Like Jimi Hendrix, he ahs the natural ability to balance the cerebral with the emotional, the technical with instinctual, while keeping an eye on both the past and the future. It is this awesome juggling act that is the secret to Pink Floyd’s lasting appeal.

11. Keith Richards

Keith Richards is the archetypal rock outlaw, the quintessential skinny English rock guitarist in a tight black suit. He’s filled that role since the Rolling Stones first established themselves as the dark, dangerous alternative to the Beatles in 1963. With his deep love of the blues, Keef initiated a generation of white, middle-class kids into the wonders of Muddy Waters, howling’ Wolf and Chuck Berry. His unique five-string, open-G tuning lies at the heart of such all-time power chord classics as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man.” As a soloist, Keef has worked a few miracles; witness the icy, amphetamine mesmerism of his licks on “Sympathy For The Devil” and his buoyant bending on “Happy.” And he is the author of the most-played riff in all rock: the tritone mating call of “Satisfaction.” Much has been made of Richards’ fondness of controlled substances, but his ultimate drug is music; his knowledge of rock, blues and reggae is encyclopedic, his passion for them boundless. They have sustained him through imprisonment, addiction, tempestuous lines of his leathery face, the history of rock and roll is etched.

12. Eric Johnson

In a realm often dominated by ham-fisted machoismo, Eric Johnson stands apart as rock guitar’s elegant poet laureate. He has managed to create an original style from such radically dissimilar sources as country chicken picking, Jimi Hendrix and jazzman Wes Montgomery. A legend long before he became famous, Johnson’s seemingly endless, melodious lines and distinctive “violin” tone made it an absolute requirement for guitarists stopping near the Texan’s hometown of Austin to attend his show there in the early/mid 1980s.

After turning down numerous offers to tour as a sideman, he rose to prominence in 1986 with his critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album, Tones. His follow-up, Ah Via Musicom, thrust the self-effacing innovator further into the spotlight, yielding one Grammy-winning cut (“Cliffs Of Dover”) and eventually going gold. Combining passion and lyricism with what can only be described as an overwhelmingly positive vibe, Johnson’s music is progressive without being academic, uplifting without stooping to sentimentality.

13. Buddy Guy

“Part of my reason for forming Cream was I suddenly had this mad idea about being English Buddy Guy; my goal was to be Buddy Guy with a composing bass player… And to this day, when he’s on I don’t think anyone can touch him. He takes you away to somewhere completely different.” -Eric Clapton

“Buddy Guy is as close as you can come to the hear of the blues.” -Jeff Beck

“He plays one note and you forget about the rent.” -Carlos Santana

“Nobody can get out of tune as cool as Buddy Guy.” Stevie Ray Vaughan

14. Yngwie Malmsteen

Two schools of thought have sprung over the years regarding Yngwie J. Malmsteen. On the one hand, the Swedish native’s incredibly precise, rapid-fire playing has earned him as a profound and brilliant artist, the founder and most important exponent of neo-classical guitar. From the point of view of this school, the effortless blend of raw spead, finesse and passion that has characterized Malmsteen’s style since his 1984 solo debut, Rising Force, represents the pinnacle of fretboard achievement. Yngwie is also credited with popularizing the scalloped guitar neck.

But Yngwie is also scorned by many in the guitar community, who loathe him with an intensity that matches the ardor of his most dedicated boosters. To group, Malmsteen was the architect of cold, empty guitar style, which emphasized technique over art, speed over feel. They rejoice over the apparent demise of neo-classicism. And how do you plead-for Yngwie or against?

15. Dimebag Darrell

This authentic, crimson-bearded lone star madman had rewritten the book on heavy metal riffing in the short space by many major-label releases. By combining the virtuosity of Edward Van Halen with the rhythmic drive of a glue-sniffing punk rocker, the legend Pantera guitarist had created a highly individual sound that that appeals to classic rockers, fans of death metal and industrial headbangers. On Pantera’s March 15, 1994 release, Far Beyond Driven, Darrell solidified his reputation as one of metal’s true originals on tracks like “Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills,” which combines hell-and-damnation riffing with the kind of abrasive avant-garde noodling that put Sonic Youth on the map.

16. John Petrucci

Known with Dream Theater, John Petrucci is proud to be progressive. “Our style is completely different from grunge and alternative music,” says the 41-year-old Berklee-trained musician. “But I think our music has as much attitude as any of those bands.”

Dream Theater is known for a complicated, textured style of hard rock that embraces flawless musicianship, lengthy improve sections, daring arrangements and other flashy elements made popular by Yes, Kansas, Rush and other old-school rockers. Leading the progressive charge is the technically masterful Petrucci, whose playing encompasses angular melodic phrases, liquid chromatics and manic dispays of speed-picking into an exciting, coherent style.

Despite his reputation, the Ibanez-wielding shredder remains modest; “Being looked at as a guitar hero is very flattering, but being singled out away from the rest of the band doesn’t appeal to me,” says Petrucci. “I’d prefer to have people view me as a talented musician in a good band-not as some flashy soloist.” Not a chance.

17. B.B. King

As the universally hailed ambassador of the blues, B.B. King has introduced his favorite music to more people the world over than all other artists combined. In fact, he’s so highly visible-popping up everywhere from ads for Northwestern Airlines and McDonald’s to episode of “Sanford And Son” and “Married With Children”-that it’s easy to take for granted and forget why he became so revered in the first place.

B.B. King has an incredibly expressive, vocal vibrato and an unmistakable, ringing tone, both of which have been imitated by legions of admirers. He is also the master of the perfectly placed bent note, stretching his strings with eloquence, brilliant timing and consistently perfect intonation. But what is perhaps most impressive about B.B. King is that despite hanging over 300 nights a year for decades, and despite having attained cultural icon status long ago, he has avoided slipping into complacency. He never plays the same solo twice and to this day stretches himself, demonstrating night after night exactly why he is the King Of The Blues.

18. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai — Both rockers are equal careers and talent.

Starting with Joe Satriani, a walking warehouse of virtually every rock guitar style and technique ever developed. From delicate, classical-style finger-picking to the most profane vibrato-bar molestation, Joe knows it all. He elevates the level of whatever he’s playing with his passion for sonic adventure and dead-eye sense of song and orchestration.

Like a human melting pot, Satriani has managed to integrate such disparate influences as surf guitar, world beat and Jimi Hendrix into his playing. His much-lauded 1987 breakthrough album, Surfing With The Alien, almost single-handedly rehabilitated instrumental rock as a mainstream genre and help bury the myth that a thoughtful, educated player couldn’t rock. In the manner of the Blow By Blow-era Jeff Beck. Satriani employs his superior technique and seemingly inexhaustible vocabulary of licks, riffs and styles in the service of memorable songs (rather than the other way around). And he continues to do this exhibitionism, traps that have foiled too many of his peers.

Steve Vai’s unparalleled technique and effortless flash made him rock’s paramount pair of hired hands in the 1980’s. He rendered PIL more accessible, empowered David Lee Roth, gave Whitesnake artistic credibility and even shredded for the Devil in a sensational performance in the film Crossroads.

But it was with 1990’s Passion And Warfare-perhaps the most anticipated guitar release of all time-that Vai crystallized his technical skills, incredible drive and explosive vision into a sensitive, acutely personal guitar statement. He shifts gears with the greatest of ease, gliding from delicate lyricism to the back. Like a demented circus master, Vai has the power to amuse and frighten with his most dangerous menagerie of sound.

19. Joe Perry

For 35 years, through not one or two, but several climbs to the top, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry has been a living testimony to the power of a Bad-Ass Attitude. Perry’s perpetual sneer is expressed not merely on his chiseled face, but also through his guitars and overdriven amps. Of course, he’s also written some pretty decent riffs, the best of which completely defines their song; it’s impossible for even non-guitarists to think of “Walk This Way” or “Sweet Emotion” without humming Perry’s etched-in-stone guitar lines.

20. Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde’s hellacious guitar playing and charismatic stage presence made him a keeper of the heavy metal flame with Ozzy Osbourne for many years. But you ain’t heard nothin’ yet. Zakk stared a few bands of his own, Pride & Glory and his most recent, Black Label Society (BLS), frenzied, high octane slab of guitar mayhem. It’s a molten mix of Zakk’s two selves: his heavy, energetic Ozzyfield side and the hell-bent Southern rocker and ruthless side. Step out of the way and make peace with yo’ maker, son.

When handicapping horse races, you are the CEO of your bankroll. Like any top notch CEO you have to take advice from board members, the management serving under your leadership, and consultants hired by your firm. All provide ideas and advice to increase your bottom line.

One should consider the professional handicappers as your consultants that provide you with timely data, present you with well-reasoned cases for their picks and other essential analysis for upcoming races. As a solid CEO of your bankroll you synthesize all of this information, add it to your own handicapping and come up with a well thought out pick.

Here are the top ten Horse Racing Handicappers, in my humble opinion, that you may wish to consider following as your horse racing consultants. A few of those named here are Chicago based handicappers.

1. Steven Crist-The godfather of all handicappers. He always provides excellent data on his blog on the Daily Racing Form (drf.com) web site. He is the other of Exotic Betting as well as other top selling handicapping books.

2. Dan Illman-An excellent handicapper also with an informative blog on drf.com. He is the author of Betting Maidens & 2-year-olds. Illman has a keen eye for horses in a race that may not be on everyone’s radar.

3. Steve Davidowitz-He wrote the seminal handicapping book, which he has now updated, Betting Thoroughbreds for the 21st Century. He had visited Arlington Park (Chicago) last summer for a book signing and offered some very solid advice on a 7-furlong race that day. With that type of race one should look carefully at horses that are coming down in distance from their last race. It certainly worked that day.

4. Paul Lambrakis-A solid handicapper on the Southern California racing circuit. He has a wonderful handbook, The 10 Cent Superfecta Betting Guide. In it, he provides excellent advice on how to put together strong 10-cent superfecta tickets. Comes complete with charts to easily determine how much your prospective ticket will cost. I find his handicapping advice extremely useful.

5. Brad Free-Another Southern California handicapper who provides decent race advice for races at the Southern California Tracks. He is the author of Handicapping 101. Free typically provides insight on the DRF site for the “Race of the Day” when it is at Southern California tracks.

6. Scott McMannis-Writes a Chicago Trainer Stat book for both Arlington Park and Hawthorne Race Course. He frequently hosts handicapping seminars that are quite informative.

7. Katy Mikolay-A very decent handicapper who offers up her advice at Hawthorne Race Track (Chicago). She provides very solid picks, which are helpful when assembling your tickets for key races.

8. Joe Kristufek-The handicapper for the Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago), Kristufek always offers excellent insight on each horse in the race. You can especially pick up on certain nuances in the race from his writings.

9. Ron Uchman-The track handicapper for both Arlington Park and Hawthorne Race Course, both in the Chicago area. His picks are usually very good and are well worth implementing in any tickets you may put together.

10. TIE. The ladies of CDI. Jill Byrne (Churchill Downs) and Jessica Pacheco (Fairgrounds). Both offers up excellent picks off each tracks respective web site. Jill is top notch and her picks are not to be discounted. Jessica is a solid track-racing analyst down in New Orleans.

There are many handicappers that brag about their huge scores and that they are the best at what they do. These guys/gals try to sell you some type of pick sheet. Then there are those that quietly go about their work providing useful handicapping data, great analysis, and solid picks. To maintain your budget and build your bankroll, these are the ones you should utilize as your consultants for your handicapping success.

Few Americans inspire more admiration than Jacqueline Kennedy. She was one of the most stylish women this country has ever known, and her influence on fashion has never waned. Her 1953 wedding to dashing Senator John F. Kennedy was the event of the season, and Jackie Kennedy’s name tops every list of legendary brides.

Miss Jacqueline Bouvier met then-Congressman John Kennedy in 1952 through a mutual friend. A relationship began, and by the following summer, Jackie was wearing a stunning diamond and emerald engagement ring from Van Cleef & Arpel. The wedding was planned for September 12, 1953 at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, RI, to be followed by a reception at Hammersmith Farm, where Miss Bouvier had summered with her family.

Most brides have to endure some input from their family during the wedding planning process; when Jackie was making her arrangements, she had to deal with both her mother and her very demanding father-in-law. It was extremely important to Joseph Kennedy that his son’s wedding be used for political advantage, which would explain why over 1000 guests were invited to the affair. You can be sure that all of those people were not close personal friends of the bride’s from her days at Miss Porter’s or Vassar.

Interestingly enough, although Jacqueline Kennedy is revered as a fashion icon, she did not get to have the wedding gown of her choosing. Miss Bouvier was a Francophile, and preferred simple elegant dresses. For her wedding, she wanted a bridal gown that was similar to the sophisticated styles for which she became known. However, Joe Kennedy did not trust her taste (imagine!), and insisted on a very traditional wedding dress. Jackie’s mother selected the dressmaker, Ann Lowe of New York, who created custom garments for families like the Rockefellers and the DuPonts.

There is no questioning the skill of the couturier, however, the finished bridal gown was certainly not reflective of Jacqueline Bouvier’s taste. It was a beautiful gown, though, and very much in keeping with the look of 1950s wedding dresses. Jackie’s ivory gown featured 50 yards of silk taffeta, which was fashioned into a portrait neckline with a very full bouffant skirt. The gown was heavily decorated with rows of tucking, circles of ruffles, and wax flowers. It was a very lovely, but very busy bridal gown.

The accessories were more to Jackie’s liking. She wore her grandmother’s exquisite rosepoint lace veil draped from a small lace cap decorated with orange blossoms. Miss Bouvier’s pearl bridal jewelry included a classic strand of family pearls, and a one-of-a-kind bracelet. The stunning bangle style bracelet was a wedding gift from J.F.K., and featured alternating diamonds and pearls. The impressive bangle was truly pearl bridal jewelry at its finest. In addition, Jackie wore a diamond leaf pin, which was presented to her by her future in-laws.

Jackie Kennedy’s wedding day ensemble was completed by a pair of wrist length gloves (de rigueur for a 1950s bride) and a pink and white bouquet with spray orchids and gardenias. Another things about the Kennedys’ wedding that was very typical of the ’50s was the menu. Weddings in those days did not feature serving stations offering exotic fare from around the globe. After the bride and groom cut their five tier wedding cake, the guests were served a luncheon of fruit cup, creamed chicken, and ice cream shaped like roses. That is one part of the Kennedy wedding that even the most ardent Jackie fans will probably not reproduce at their own reception!

After the wedding, the newlyweds spent one night in the Waldorf-Astoria before heading off for a two week honeymoon in Acapulco. That concluded the nuptials of Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy and began the glamorous Camelot era that was to enchant millions during the Presidency of J.F.K. The enduring legend of the charismatic young couple remains a symbol of style and grace around the world.

Depending on the type of person you are, travelling in general can heighten your anxiety levels. Even if it’s for leisure purposes.

When you’re used to working from home, travelling for work can be particularly stressful.

It’s not your day to day norm. You can’t do everything as you usually would. It totally throws you out of your routine, so it’s an understandable pain point.

With that said, it’s an important part of being a freelancer.

Occasional travel for work can be a good break from monotonous cycles. It helps build your character and keeps you in touch with reality; an important check for yourself when you’re used to being relatively insular in a business sense.

Although a worthwhile experience, it can still be straining.

I’ve learned to de-stress travelling for work by having a set of plans and routines in place.

Here are 9 ways to decrease your stress levels when travelling for business as a work from home freelancer.

1. Clear Your Decks

When travelling, it’s harder to be as responsive.

Anything that absolutely has to be done during the time period you’re travelling should be finished before you set off.

There’s no fun in trying to find a quiet corner of an airport to put a website live on slow Wi-Fi, believe me.

Prioritise these tasks above less involving work in the days before you’re due to travel.

2. Be Realistic With Your Schedule

In my experience, you can’t work exactly as you would from home when travelling.

On a train or plane it’s not so bad, even if you’re only actually seated for a part of your travel duration. Good luck if you’re driving, however.

Take this into account when booking work.

If you have a day, or a few days of travel coming up, lighten your load for this period.

If you over promise while you’re restricted by travel, you’ll end up letting people down.

Knowing how to be transparent about your limitations is of high value in general. In this instance, it’s no different. People hold honesty in high regard.

Try not to arrange meetings or agree to deadlines that could be significantly influenced by your travel plans. It’s less stressful for you and less frustrating for others that way.

3. Inform Your Clients In Advance

You’ll likely have more than one client as a freelancer. Travelling to meet with one client will often make it difficult for you to service others.

It’s important to make your client base aware of your current schedule. If this involves downtime due to travelling for work, be open about it; managing expectations is one of your most significant jobs as a freelancer.

Conventionally, it’ll not be for weeks on end that you’re away. Most of the time it’ll be a day or two. And usually, people understand – your clients will often travel for work more than you do.

If you properly inform your clients about your plans in advance, it will reduce the amount of chasing-type emails and calls while you’re on the move. This will in turn reduce the stress of the scenario.

4. Take Care Of Things At Home

When you’re always at home, you take it for granted that things there will get done and be taken care of.

There’s the bigger daily responsibilities like taking the kids to school or walking the dog. Plus the smaller things that are inconvenienced by your travelling, such as someone being in to accept deliveries.

Not being home as a remote working freelancer is often a hinderance to whole running of the household. You have these daily responsibilities that contribute to the smooth running of things that you won’t be able to fulfil and alternative arrangements need to be made.

To relieve yourself of worry, as you would when going on holiday, don’t overlook getting things in order at home before you travel for work.

5. Book The Extras

I’m a firm believer that you should always invest in the tools and equipment that allow you to perform to the best of your abilities.

Like having a well-kitted out dedicated office at home, you should invest in your experience when you travel.

It easy to think, “I’ll not need a £5 fast track pass through airport security” at the time of booking. That is until you’re stuck in the queue with only 20 minutes to boarding.

In reality, the money you outlay on some upgrades is earned back ten-fold in time saved and it helps decrease the overall travel tension.

Other examples:

• Paying extra for a hotel in the best location with good Wi-fi.
• Upgrading to a first class quiet carriage on the train.
• Taking an express train over the slower variety.
• Using meet and greet parking right outside the airport terminal.
• Booking an airport lounge.

A small aside – I’d list business class flights here too, but in my opinion they’re only worth it:

1. On long haul when you can earn back a similar amount from working onboard (which is still hard when the flights are so expensive).
2. If you have an important engagement right off the flight that you need to be on your toes for.

With that being said, in general, book the extras.

6. Research Your Destination

You’ve arrived at your destination. Where are you going? How will you get from the train station to the meeting venue? How will you get from the airport to the hotel?

This is can be a taxing experience without proper research.

I’m not saying you should plan everything from the thread to the needle, but it’s good to have some idea on how your visit to a new place will flow before you get there.

To illustrate my point:

I once arrived in Oslo thinking the done thing was to get a taxi to the city from the airport. ~£120, an hour and a few jokes from my colleagues later, it became clear I should have got the train for ~£10 taking 19 minutes.

It’ll help your trip run smoother if you take the time to research your destination in advance.

7. Do Everything Earlier Than You Think You Need To

This can be hard for a one-person businesses when time is precious.

However, one of the biggest stress relievers for me when I travel is to always give myself plenty of time.

I hate being late for anything, but especially meetings. I feel that being late is being disrespectful of another person’s time.

As a busy freelancer, you’re always trying to use your time in the most productive way possible. Despite that, don’t leave your travel margins too fine.

Start your drive an hour before you have to. Get the train one earlier than you think you need to. Fly a day in advance if you can. Try to give yourself a buffer for any unforeseen circumstances that could cause you to be in a rush.

Rushing is one of the biggest causes of stress. And, when you’re rushing, you don’t make the best decisions.

Give yourself plenty of time when travelling for work to de-stress the event.

8. Budget For The Costs

Consider the fact that while you’re giving one client your undivided attention you can’t bill anyone else.

If you’re travelling to meet a lead you often can’t bill anything at all.

There’s the none-obvious costs too, like paying someone to walk your dog while you’re away.

Travelling for business as a freelancer means you’ll need to discuss who’ll cover what costs.

Will the client you’re travelling on behalf of pay for your expenses? Direct travel costs, accommodation, food and drink?

Make sure you have an agreement in place regarding expenses before you take the trip. This will help you steer clear of any awkward conversations afterwards.

Going out to meet a client is a big commitment for a freelancer. It’s an investment of time and money.

Try to mitigate any financial nervousness by making sure it’s worth your while before you commit.

9. Book-End Periods Of Travel With Office Or Rest Days

Even though I find big value in travelling for work now and again, as someone who is used to working from home, I need to recharge my batteries when it’s over.

If you know you have a period of travel coming up, try to plan for a day on either side of this where you’re fully office based.

Use the day before your journey to properly prepare. Clear the decks, talk to your clients, fix up your schedule, research your destination and plan how things will work out at home.

On the day of your return, depending on how long you’ve been out of the office for, it can be helpful to put off any meetings too.

This gives you a chance to return any emails you’ve missed and do any post-trip administrative work, alongside getting your head back into your projects.

Better still, take a day off to give yourself a genuine rest after an intense trip.

Conclusion

Travelling to meet leads, work with clients and go to conferences can be a stressful time for a work from home freelancer.

Nevertheless, it has its benefits and I’d encourage any regular remote worker to do so from time to time.

Give yourself the best opportunity of positively gaining from the experience by de-stressing the situation as much as possible.

What can an expert Freelance WordPress Developer do for you?

Common scenarios where I deliver successful projects:

1. Your business needs to the point, technical WordPress advice in the early stages of your project.
2. You need a freelance WordPress developer to work alongside a designer to plan the best approach for your project.
3. Design, UX and UI work for your WordPress website is already finished and you need an experienced full stack WordPress developer to build the theme.
4. You require a WordPress plugin or custom 3rd party integration to be developed for your website.
5. You’re looking to launch an eCommerce project on WordPress using WooCommerce and need a professional to code it.
6. You want to use WordPress as a headless content management system, via the REST API, for a detached front end using React, Next.js or a static site generator like Gatsby with GraphQL.
7. You’d like to use WordPress in an advanced way and you need someone to advise on the project and see it through development.

If one of these situations describes your needs, you’re in the right place. You can hire me to help today.

Why hire Freelance Web Designer Hong Kong as your Freelance WordPress Developer?

If your WordPress solution is not up to scratch, it could affect your business and it’s profits.

Whether you’re thinking about creating something on the WordPress platform or you’re running WordPress already, you’ll need an expert freelance WordPress developer to oversee your project.

Working in the WordPress ecosystem for over 20 years, I’ve seen some real horror stories.

Why hire a WordPress expert to rectify sub-par development when you can get it right first time?

Based in Hong Kong, I have a two decade’s worth of experience delivering successful projects for start ups, medium-large businesses, and big brands worldwide.

WordPress VIP agencies work with me on an ongoing basis to produce enterprise level, custom developments.

I develop full stack, bespoke WordPress solutions with modern tooling and processes, using HTML, CSS, SCSS, PHP, JavaScript and React.

I’m a good communicator, reliable, autonomous, pragmatic and happy to project manage myself and/or a wider team.

I want to partner with you on your WordPress project for the long term. From planning, through to development, go live and further improvements.

I pride my self on my output and I’m confident in it’s quality. That’s why I guarantee my work.

Any issues that arise within your project’s scope, for 6 months after it goes live, I will fix as part of the original cost.

Ready to start a project together?

I’d love to work with you. Fill out the form below to tell me more:

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The dictionary says that a commodity is “anything bought or sold.” That’s way too wide a definition for our use. In business, a commodity is a product or service over which the buyers have most of the influence when it comes to price. Mainly, this is because they see little or no difference between versions of this product or service as it’s offered for sale.

On the business side, if you’re selling something that consumers see as a commodity, you have little chance of taking business away from your competitor because the only difference the consumer can see is price. Lack of other differentiation almost invariably drives down the selling price. That means you can’t make a profit selling (what appears to be) the same damned thing as everyone else.

The easiest differentiation is name. That’s why you have Joe’s Diner, Rita’s Diner, Mel’s Diner, etc. As long as the named person is some kind of celebrity, or is known by the intended customer in some capacity, then they have a chance at getting some of the business in that industry. But as soon as an “outsider” wants to purchase what you and your neighbors are selling, the name difference is negated.

So calling your business “Joe’s Web Hosting” will, by itself, get you no customers.

We are programmed to look for differences. In a crowded field of competitors, setting yourself apart in some way is necessary. Ultimately, you are looking to create and direct your brand.

Most people can’t accurately define what a “brand” is. Most assume that a company’s logo, or the proprietary typeface with which it’s name is spelled is the “brand.” Here’s a concept most business owners don’t seem to want to understand:

A brand exists only in the minds of your consumers, potential consumers, competitors, peers and the public at large. You can try to create and influence your brand, but that’s all.

A brand is a shortcut in a person’s mind. If I mention the name of a national burger chain (let’s call it JesterBurger) to you, all the thoughts, memories and feelings you have about that particular place is the brand. Huge corporations try to influence your thoughts and feelings via advertising campaigns, store layout, customer service, and a million other interactions. If you are a hard-core vegan, your perception of any burger chain is likely to be negative, regardless of how positively they promote themselves, and how great your friends feel about eating there.

There are essentially three levels of information gathering. For our purposes, we’ll talk about Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.

Primary information source gathering consists of actually experiencing something (a product or service, in our case).

Secondary information source gathering is hearing about other peoples’ Primary experiences.

Tertiary is – well, everything else.

You walk into a branch of our fictional JesterBurger. You see that the place is clean, the colors are bright, and the people behind the counter are smiling. You order a complete meal, and are happy to receive most of your $10 bill back as change. The food appears quickly and the temperature is hot enough that you can assume it was freshly made. You sit in one of the comfortable booths, bite into your JesterBurger Deluxe and decide you enjoy the taste and texture. After finishing your meal, you throw your garbage into the conveniently located can, and head for the restroom to wash your hands. You notice that the restroom is well maintained, and looks and smells clean. The water is quickly hot enough to wash with soap from the dispenser above the sink, and you air dry your hands with the air jet.

The thoughts and feelings you have about JesterBurger after your visit are from a Primary source – you actually went there and had an experience.

Your friend asks you where you had lunch, and you tell her it was JesterBurger. She’s never been there and asks whether you’d recommend it for lunch.

No, you tell her, there was a screaming kid next to you all during lunch. Don’t go.

Although JesterBurger has done everything they possibly can to positively influence your experience during your visit, your perception can be influenced by anything and everything during your Primary experience.

Your bad review to your friend is an example of a Secondary source. It’s called anecdotal evidence, or Word Of Mouth. When marketing professionals try to create and manage it, they call it Buzz Marketing.

Tertiary information comes from things like media stories, advertisements, marketing materials, and other sources. These are usually created, or at least placed, by the subject company trying to influence your thoughts. Similarly the person running JesterBurgerSucks.com has probably loaded their site with negative information, and is also trying to influence your opinion.

What does this have to do with defining your brand? You are trying to make certain that your potential client understands what it is that you do, what services you offer, and how you’re unique as compared to all your potential competition, all in an instant. You need to focus on a few key things about you and your company that would appeal to potential clients. A simple, representative list might be:

* Location (local vs exotic)

* Services (broad vs narrow)

* Time in businesses (new vs established)

* Ownership (small vs large)

* Design philosophy (simple vs fancy)

* Attitude (funny vs serious)

* Education (6th grader vs PhD.)

* Experience (big shop vs entrepreneur)

* Price (low vs high)

If you’re in business, you have a brand whether you want one or not. It’s your choice to attempt to manipulate it or not. If you do try, what image are you trying to project, and how will you go about it? Again, your choice. If you don’t attempt to control your brand and make the best impression possible, you are letting your business be seen as totally interchangeable with all the other look-alike web hosts out there.

Award winning, mystery author, Paul Doiron, returns with his third book featuring Maine game warden, Mike Bowditch. In Bad Little Falls, Bowditch’s affinity for murder investigations beyond the scope of his authority thrives.

The Warden Service reassigned Bowditch from mid-coast Maine to Bad Little Falls, in the hinterlands of Washington County, near the Canadian border. Bowditch knows his routine conflicts with administration and rogue professional behavior accounted for his transfer during the harsh winter month of February.

Jamie Seawall is a divorced, Employee of the Month at the local McDonald’s, whose pulchritude attracts Bowditch soon after his arrival. He and college sweetheart, Sarah, ended their relationship last summer. Tensions between the couple mounted, as Bowditch habitually chose his career over Sarah. Concealing her pregnancy until she miscarried didn’t help their situation.

Seawall sports her own baggage, including a drug and alcohol addiction, and a penchant for attracting toxically, romantic relationships. Her latest ex-boyfriend is Randall Cates, a known drug dealer. “That’s the thing about drugs. Once you start using, you’ll do anything to stay high, even convince yourself you love the man who’s giving the drugs to you,” she says.

Cates is believed to be responsible for the death of Trinity Raye. Last year he sold the seventeen-year-old Whitney High School student tainted Heroin; and she overdosed. Authorities haven’t been able to connect Cates to the crime. John (Prester) Seawall is Jamie’s brother, and Cates’s right-hand man.

The Heath is a trackless wasteland where Cates and Seawall commonly deal drugs. During a particularly brutal snowstorm, Seawall stumbles upon the home of Ben and Doris Sprague, frostbitten and near death. He manages to tell the couple that his friend is clinging to life out in the blizzard.

Doc Larrabee, a friend of the Sprague’s and recent acquaintance to Bowditch, asks him to aid in the search for the endangered, missing man.

Setting out on one of the Sprague’s snowmobiles, Bowditch discovers Cates near the Heath, frozen to death. An autopsy reveals he suffered a cracked sternum before expiring, transforming his death into a murder investigation.

Once again, Bowditch finds himself in pursuit of a killer, defying the authorities’ warning to stay clear. Doiron adds a surprise element that could be considered the catalyst for the story’s deadly chain of events.

Lucas is Jamie Seawall’s odd and troubled twelve-year-old son. He keeps notebook diaries with disturbing pictures on the cover, including vampire women and owls with bloodstained beaks; and takes a liking to Bowditch.

Some people in Washington County despise Bowditch’s arrival as game warden. Joe Brogan operates the Call of the Wild Guide Service and Game Ranch. It’s a legally enclosed ranch that stocks up on exotic creatures, allowing hunters to pay good money to shoot the land-restrained animals. The concept irks Bowditch; and he and Brogan become archenemies.

Returning home one day to his rented trailer, Bowditch finds a coyote pelt nailed to his door, accompanied by a threatening note signed by “George Magoon.” Magoon was a legendary Maine poacher in the 1880s that often threatened area game wardens.

Soon after the coyote pelt incident, Bowditch discovers a skunk inside his trailer, let in through a deliberately broken window. Are these two incidents the work of one villain?

Bowditch rekindles his friendship with legendary warden pilot, Charley Stevens. He and his wife, Ora now live a simple hour’s distance from Bowditch’s new jurisdiction. Stevens helped Bowditch locate his father on Rum Pond, in Doiron’s debut, The Poacher’s Son; and assisted with the Ashley Kim murder investigation in Trespasser.

Doiron is a Registered Maine Guide, empowering him with the ability to describe the state’s wildlife and terrain with vivid detail. “I was traveling through a landscape as sharp as a black-and-white photograph. The greens of the pines looked black. The shadows beyond my headlights were gray. The only brightness was the white of the blowing snow.”

Each book Doiron releases expands his audience and accolodes. If you enjoy discovering gifted authors during their nascent careers, add him to your list.

While each story stands alone in Doiron’s current triad of books, consider reading his previous two before diving into Bad Little Falls. It will help you conjoin the narratives and fully appreciate his talents.

If you enjoy reading crime fiction, check out Bouchercon 2012. It’s the annual conference dedicated to crime fiction authors and readers. This year’s event convenes in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-7; and reads like a Who’s Who of presenters. To find out more, visit: http://bouchercon2012.com.

There’s an online Degrees of Kevin Bacon calculator run from the University of Virginia at OracleofBacon.org that uses the definitive Internet Movie Database (at imdb.com). Craig Fass, Mike Ginelli, and Brian Turtle originally conceived the game as students at Albright College in Reading, PA, in 1993. They observed that Kevin Bacon, who had appeared in almost thirty respectably diverse films by that time, represented a kind of movie world nexus who could be connected with any other actor with six or fewer steps. For example, here are the results for Vivien Leigh of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire:

1. Vivien Leigh was in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) with Jill St. John; 2. Jill St. John was in The Player (1992) with David Alan Grier; 3. David Alan Grier was in The Woodsman (2004) with Kevin Bacon.

Thus Vivian Leigh yields a Kevin Bacon number of 3. Now for more variety, the site also lets you calculate the steps between any two actors. For example, here’s the shortest path it can find between Carrot Top (Scott Thompson) and Ethel Barrymore:

1. Carrot Top was in Chairman of the Board (1998) with Bill Erwin; 2. Bill Erwin was in The Color of Evening (1994) with Stuart Whitman; 3. Stuart Whitman was in Johnny Trouble (1957) with Ethel Barrymore.

The trick is to get this number as high as possible. So I thought I’d try a similarly ridiculous pairing like Natalie Portman and Shemp Howard, but even that one scored no better:

1. Natalie Portman was in Zoolander (2001) with Ben Stiller; 2. Ben Stiller was in The Nutt House (1992) with Emil Sitka; 3. Emil Sitka was in Husbands Beware (1956) with Shemp Howard.

The name Emil Sitka probably doesn’t mean much to most people but he was a regular in many of the Three Stooges shorts, often wearing coke bottle glasses and a mustache and probably best remembered as a mousy justice of the peace who says, “Hold hands, you lovebirds.” Next, let’s try Macaulay Culkin and Dooley Wilson (Sam the piano player in Casablanca):

1. Macaulay Culkin was in Rocket Gibraltar (1988) with Burt Lancaster; 2. Burt Lancaster was in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Frank Faylen; 3. Frank Faylen was in Passage West (1951) with Dooley Wilson.

Hmm, 3 again. Can we now connect Pia Zadora with Rondo Hatton? Sure.

1. Pia Zadora was in Favorite Deadly Sins (1995) with Brian Keith; 2. Brian Keith was in Arrowhead (1953) with Milburn Stone; 3. Milburn Stone was in The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) with Rondo Hatton.

For those of you under thirty-five, Pia Zadora is a cherubic, affluently-married actress and chanteuse who was the butt of a lot of industry jokes during the 80s but got in a few last laughs by earning a Grammy nomination. Milburn Stone, a name infrequently heard in the same sentence with Pia Zadora’s, was best known as Doc on the long running Gunsmoke TV series. Rondo Hatton started out as a normal-looking reporter for the Tampa Tribune but developed acromegaly — a pituitary disorder that causes the face and hands to grow uncontrollably. Making the best of it, he pursued a second career as a character actor in horror films. Let’s see if we can do better linking Eddie Deezen (the insufferable geek in War Games) with Grace Kelly:

1. Eddie Deezen was in Grease (1978) with Michael Biehn; 2. Michael Biehn was in Blood of the Hunter (1995) with Edward Meeks; 3. Edward Meeks was in Rearranged (1982) with Grace Kelly.

As you can see it’s very tough to fetch numbers larger than three, regardless of the seeming disparity between the two actors you choose. Of course you could jack up your scores by selecting two obscure one-picture-wonders that hardly anyone has heard of, but that would be uninteresting. Ideally you want two easily recognizable individuals who did very few pictures and are as far apart chronologically as possible. One logical suspect might be Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie in the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but declined all subsequent film offers and became a veterinarian. Let’s pair him with Albert Dieudonné, who played the title role in Abel Gance’s epic silent film Napoleon (1927) but appeared in only three further pictures:

1. Peter Ostrum was in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) with Roy Kinnear; 2. Roy Kinnear was in The Return of the Musketeers (1989) with Christopher Lee; 3. Christopher Lee was in Amere Victoire (1957) with Joe Davray; 4. Joe Davray was in Madame Sans-Gene (1941) with Albert Dieudonné.

So there we are: 4. That Roy Kinnear really got around, until he died in 1988 falling from a horse. Because he was involved with a vast array of fairly big pictures, he invariably spoils it for Peter Ostrum and the other relatively non-famous Willie Wonka alums (Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson, Michael Bollner, etc.). Christopher Lee is similarly omnipresent and in fact scores the lowest of ALL Hollywood actors in terms of this kind of interconnectedness.