50 State Quarters Rated: 2007

Montana
Kansas and North Dakota already used living bison on their quarters, so in order to make a variation on the theme, Montana uses a dead bison (or at least its skull). This morbid icon is superimposed over flat plains with a few token hills on the left side. The result is an image of the state which is barren and uninviting.
Rating: 5¢

Washington
Including Mt. Rainier on this quarter is a given. Including salmon, the unofficial state fish, is also a given, even though the official state fish is the steelhead trout (nobody would know what a trout looks like). Putting them together in a pastoral nature scene is a recipe for success. I'd like to see the Space Needle on there as well, but I won't fault Washington for trying to show that the state is relatively untouched by man.
Rating: 20¢

Idaho
This is another exceedingly dull quarter. It has a miniature state outline, instead of the full-sized outline I prefer. It has the front half of a perigrine falcon, which supposedly has a habitat in Idaho. And it has the state motto, which, while motivational, doesn't tell me much about the state. In fact, the entire quarter tells me nothing more than what Idaho looks like and that birds live there.
Rating: 0¢

Wyoming
Anyone who has been to Wyoming knows that the silhouette of the cowboy on a bucking bronco is an omnipresent symbol throughout the state. With a canvas the size of a quarter, Wyoming could have done more with the cowboy, such as put clothes on him or show him next to some natural landmark like Devil's Tower or Old Faithful. They did neither. It's boring.
Rating: 5¢

Utah
The state of Utah is home to four of the most spectacular national parks in the United States. It is also a winter sports paradise. Interestingly, neither of these features are highlighted on the state quarter. Instead, the quarter depicts a historical event which, while not insignificant, is not what one would say Utah is known for. The slogan also comes out of nowhere -- Utah is the Beehive State, but there is no mention of it on the quarter.
Rating: 5¢

Five more quarters are due to be released next year, and there is a possibility the program will expand to include DC and the territories. We will conclude this series when the designs for next year are made available.

Bad Boy Comes To Foxboro

Now, it may be hypocritical of me to talk about the Patriots' acquisition of Randy Moss after decrying all the draft hype and second-guessing yesterday. However, it's my team and it's a marquee name, so I feel compelled to chime in.

The news initially jarred me, knowing how the Patriots have steered well clear of such troublesome characters in the past. Moss, a well-known malcontent, has confessed to playing hard only when he wants and smoking marijuana every day during his NFL career. He also made a mooning gesture to the crowd at Lambeau Field and ran his car into a meter maid who was trying to write him a ticket. Have the Patriots sold out their moral high ground in a semi-desperate attempt to regain NFL supremacy?

Then again, In Bill We Trust. You don't win three Super Bowls by making questionable personnel decisions and then letting the inmates run the asylum. I trust that Bill Belichick and Bob Kraft met with Moss before the deal went through and laid down the law. They did the same thing with Corey Dillon, explaining the Patriots' team-before-individual philosophy and then putting their money where their mouth is by making Dillon's performance bonuses contingent upon team milestones, not individual ones.

I'll give Belichick and company the benefit of the doubt on this guy. It's only fair. Temperment aside, there is no doubt but that an already productive offseason for the Pats became even better. Only 132 days until kickoff!

F--- The Draft

Today, one of the most ridiculous overhyped events in all of professional sports takes place -- the NFL Draft. It infuriates me how much attention people pay to what is essentially a high-priced educated crapshoot. Careers are born and careers die on the basis of all this draft spin, long before any player sees his first snap of the season. Teams are inexplicably willing to throw all their draft muscle behind a player on the basis of one bowl game (against a team that didn't even want to be there) or one heat of the 40-yard dash at the annual meat market, er, scouting combine. After all, the Houston Texans drafted Mario Williams with the first pick last year, largely on the basis of rumor or innuendo.

Your normal everyday fan all of a sudden becomes the expert on which players will fulfill his teams' need. Remember when the Eagles fans in attendance booed Donovan McNabb four full months before he would even have a chance to play a game that counts? Everyone's an expert. Why not let the front office people do their job, especially since they have been preparing for this day since January? (The previous sentence does not apply to the Detroit Lions, since any random guy off the street could do a better job than Matt Millen.)

The irony is that while so much work goes into preparing for the draft, maybe one of every three first-round draft picks is a huge success. For every Peyton Manning or Orlando Pace that becomes a perennial Pro Bowler, you have a David Carr or a Tim Couch who either languishes on the bench or becomes a career journeyman, and you also have a Ki-Jana Carter or a Courtney Brown who falls off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again, except in one of those "Worst Draft Blunders of All Time" retrospectives on the Fox Sports Network.

Yeah, I'll check the internet periodically to see where the dozen or so college players whose names I recognize end up, and of course I'll keep track of what the Patriots do. But as for all those draft gurus who grade each team's performance the Monday morning afterward, I'll wait until this autumn to pass judgment, as any sane person should.

50 State Quarters Rated: 2006

Nevada
I assume that the Mint decided that slot machines were per se inappropriate for inclusion on a coin. That decision drastically reduced the amount of subject matter Nevada could put on its quarter. Given the limitation, though, they did a great job. My only problem with an otherwise well-conceived scene (that reminds us there is more to Nevada than Vegas) is that the sagebrush on the sides makes the picture just a little bit too busy.
Rating: 20¢

Nebraska
The picture on the back of this quarter is aesthetically pleasing and recognizes both Nebraska's most famous natural landmark as well as its historical heritage as a stopping place on the Oregon Trail. Nebraska might not have all that much to offer as a state, but it truly made the most of what it has.
Rating: 25¢

Colorado
This quarter is really disappointing. First of all, I can't quite get past the ridiculous slogan at the bottom, which is redundant (in Spanish, colorado means colored or colorful). While it features Longs Peak, one of Colorado's fourteeners (14,000-foot mountains), this quarter really should have focused on quantity rather than quality, since Colorado is famous for having so many of those mountains. Showing hikers or skiers would also be a well-deserved nod to Colorado's reputation as a outdoor sports paradise.
Rating: 5¢

North Dakota
While North Dakota loses points by reusing Kansas' bison theme, at least the state managed to fill up the quarter better. In addition to the bison grazing, you have actual scenery, in the form of badlands (which, contrary to popular belief, exist in both Dakotas, not just South Dakota). You also have a stylized sun in the background. This quarter makes me think that North Dakota is actually a pretty state worth seeing, not just the monotonous prairie I usually depict.
Rating: 20¢

South Dakota
It's a no-brainer to put Mount Rushmore on the back of the South Dakota quarter. However, I think it would be fine if Mount Rushmore were there alone. Instead, it gets drowned out by the pheasant and the wheat surrounding it. Mount Rushmore ends up being deprived of the majesty it deserves.
Rating: 10¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 2005

California
If ever a state needed a collage of different images, it would be California. Since it is such a large and diverse state, it would best be represented with the Golden Gate Bridge, the Hollywood sign, and maybe a grapevine or a Joshua tree or a giant sequoia. The picture of John Muir and Half Dome gives recognition to the natural wonders in the Sierras but it gives short shrift to the rest of this gigantic state.
Rating: 15¢

Minnesota
Similar to Arkansas, this quarter depicts a relaxing scene with waterfowl ripe for the picking that could be anywhere in the Eastern United States. It's a pleasant thing to look at, for sure. Where Minnesota excels is in including a picture of the state, so that we know exactly where are. Normally, I prefer full-size state outlines instead of minature silhouettes, but in order to preserve the scene on the rest of the quarter, it fits in just fine.
Rating: 20¢

Oregon
Crater Lake, while I have yet to see it in person (hopefully soon!), is an impressive natural feature in Oregon. But in this picture, it just looks kind of dead, which makes sense, since Crater Lake is really the remnants of an extinct volcano.I much prefer the scene of the Oregon coast by the Pacific Ocean on the Lewis & Clark nickel, which conveys a much better sense of optimism and celebration.
Rating: 10¢

Kansas
I absolutely hate this incredibly boring quarter. You have a bison, a few sunflowers, and a ton of empty space all around it. Only the sunflowers suggests that the image belongs to Kansas, since it's the Sunflower State. There's no state nickname, no state motto, and no state outline. I would have suggested a picture of Kansas' state capitol, which is about the only widely recognizable thing in the entire state.
Rating: 0¢

West Virginia
Eh. The New River Gorge Bridge is an impressive bridge, especially when people go BASE jumping off of it on Bridge Day. The hills and river show West Virgina's natural beauty, which, as I can attest, is worth checking out. It is a nice scene, but the quarter doesn't tell me much else. I'd love some indication of coal country or hillbillies with most of their teeth missing.
Rating: 15¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 2004

Michigan
I admire this quarter for its straighforwardness, since it consists of the state outline, the nickname, and the five Great Lakes. But it's a little bit to simplistic. It doesn't tell me damn thing about what's going on inside the state -- it just shows the bodies of water that form the outside of it. Now, I wouldn't want anything to do with Detroit on a quarter either, but there have to be some redeeming features in the rest of the state.
Rating: 10¢

Florida
Good theme, poor execution. Constrasting the galleon of the Spanish explorers who discovered Florida long before the English arrived in Jamestown with the space shuttle our astronauts use to explore the final frontier of space is a brilliant piece of artistic conception. Too bad the design focuses a whole lot of empty space. Could we throw a gator in there perhaps?
Rating: 10¢

Texas
Now, ordinarily, I'd criticize such a quarter for being overly simplistic and not telling me anything about the state. However, Texas' lone star is so iconic that it can stand on its own. Plus the fact that Texans feel so confident about their state that they need not embellish it any more than what is minimally necessary is highly illustrative on its own. Their understated design is also incredibly bold. I love it.
Rating: 25¢

Iowa
Before seeing this quarter, I had no idea that Iowa had a foundation in education, so I went to look it up. Borrowing a page from New Jersey, Iowa opted to have its quarter reproduce a (modified) work by Grant Wood, a native Iowan and one of the most celebrated American artists. The quarter simultaneously honors Wood and shows you what Iowa looks like. The bottom line is that it's a really pretty picture.
Rating: 25¢

Wisconsin
The quarter presents a melange of some of the things Wisconsin is famous for. Notable omissions are the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee's Best. The scroll down at the bottom displays the actual state motto rather than some random inspiration phrase. It just seems a little bland as is. All it needs is a state outline to be close to perfect.
Rating: 15¢

Donald Trump, YOU Are Fired!

Sunday night, three other people nationwide and I watched the season finale of The Apprentice: Los Angeles. Somebody needs to put that show out of its misery. It has lasted way beyond its shelf life. What sucked the most about the finale this time around, aside from the fact that the person selected as The Apprentice had been all but invisible the whole season, is that you didn't even realize it was the finale.

In an effort to shake things up, like he did with the three-way final tribal council on Survivor last season, Mark Burnett had a four-person final challenge and boardroom. The remaining four candidates had to divide themselves into two teams and would then select two of the previously fired candidates to join their team. They competed in a task where they had to film a commercial for some air freshener spray. It was strikingly similar to another challenge earlier in the season. It also lacked the feel of the mega event which characterized the final challenge in seasons past, where the remaining two candidates would be the boss of their teams, rather than just a project manager, and had to manage some event with a million pieces going in different directions.

By contrast, this time around, the challenge was no more intense than what they had done the previous 13 weeks, which made me think that it was a "semifinal" challenge, with the people on the winning team squaring off against one another for the ultimate honor. But instead, The Donald told the four remaining candidates that they would return "next week" for something "different" (by which he meant the exact same they do at the end of every season) -- a live final boardroom in front of an audience. Somehow, without seeing how the candidates performed on their own, The Donald managed to narrow the final four down to a single person (actually, it wasn't that hard -- he just had to choose the person who didn't suck, and you had to figure it would be a woman this time).

I really should stop watching this show. Then again, I've seen every episode of all six seasons, beating out my other favorite shows 24 (two episodes missed in six seasons), Survivor (four episodes missed in 13 seasons), and The Amazing Race (missed season one and two episodes of season two, but none in nine seasons since then), so it's kind of hard to stop.

And, just to show how irrelevant the actual finale was, the bigger news today is that one of the runners-up will be posing for Playboy. Now, that's a show I will be watching.

50 State Quarters Rated: 2003

Illinois
I love the state outline, I love the picture of young Abraham Lincoln, I love the contrast between the rural farm scene and the Chicago skyline, and I love the state motto. I'll even agree to overlook the stars and the fancy font. But where this quarter loses major points is in the corny and completely unnecessary 21st State - 21st Century slogan.
Rating: 15¢

Alabama
I didn't realize Helen Keller was from Alabama until I saw her on this quarter, so I give Alabama credit for recognizing a noteworthy American. Putting her name in braille is a cool touch. The patronizing banner with "Spirit of Courage" on it is not a cool touch. This quarter also becomes too busy with the pine branch and magnolia blossoms along the side.
Rating: 15¢

Maine
I've never met an idyllic ocean scene I didn't like. This one keeps the streak intact. It captures exactly what Maine is all about. The rays of light extending from the lighthouse do a great job of filling what would otherwise be empty space. The only way to improve this quarter would be to sneak a lobster on there somewhere.
Rating: 20¢

Missouri
The scene of Lewis and Clark paddling under the Gateway Arch is an anachronism, but then again, it's supposed to be. It's a tasteful use of artistic license. That's the good. The bad is the slogan "Corps of Discovery." Many Americans probably don't know what that means, let alone how to pronounce it. The quarter is also clogged up with dates -- Missouri's admittance into the union, the quarter's year of issue, the year of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the year of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. It's numerical cacophony.
Rating: 10¢

Arkansas
This quarter really makes me want to go hunting. I mean, with a duck flying just over the water at point blank range, how could you not want to shoot it? The scene with the lake is pretty, but it strikes me as generic. The floating diamond commemorates the fact that the first diamonds in the US were found in Arkansas. It's a nice design, but I feel like it could say more about the state than it does.
Rating: 15¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 2002

Tennessee
I love the imagery that depicts the musical traditions of the three parts of the state. The fiddle is for the bluegrass music of Appalachia, the guitar is for the country music of the Grand Olde Opry in Nashville, and the trumpet is for Memphis' jazz. The three stars come straight from the state flag. But did the Mint really need to hammer us over the head with the banner "Musical Heritage," since we couldn't possibly figure that out on our own?
Rating: 15¢

Ohio
When I think of Ohio's possible claims to fame, birthplace of aviation pioneers is not particularly high on my list. The coin gets demerits for reusing the Wright Flyer after North Carolina employed it before. Also, if either Neil Armstrong or John Glenn (Ohio's two most famous astronauts) are in that spacesuit, it's a violation of the rule that prevents living people from appearing on coinage.
Rating: 5¢

Louisiana
I like the pelican (Louisiana is the Pelican State, after all) and I like the jazz trumpet that symbolizes New Orleans. However, the point of the quarter is to showcase the state of Louisiana, not the entire Louisiana Purchase. We have nickels that celebrate the westward expansion. With its Cajun heritage and Mardi Gras celebrations (and drunk coeds flashing for beads on Bourbon Street), Louisiana has plenty of its own things to showcase and need not share the spotlight with the rest of the Central U.S.
Rating: 5¢

Indiana
Yeah, it works. I like the state outline and the race car is probably Indiana's biggest claim to fame. Normally I disapprove of random stars, but like Tennessee's stars, Indiana's are lifted straight off the state flag. If they would throw in the torch from the state flag, it would look even better. Crossroads of America is the official state motto and meshes perfectly with the racecar theme.
Rating: 15¢

Mississippi
The magnolia is the official state flower of Mississippi, and together with the state nickname written in script, it's supposed to represent Southern gentility. But that's all the quarter has. Would it kill you guys to slap a riverboat on there or something?
Rating: 10¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 2001

New York
What do you associate with New York any more than the Statute of Liberty? I didn't think so. Yeah, there's the rest of the state also, which is appropriately recognized through use of the state outline. I've never heard the expression "Gateway to Freedom" used in conjunction with New York, and the stars are once again unnecessary, but by following the same aesthetic structure of the Massachusetts quarter, this one works.
Rating: 20¢

North Carolina
The Wright Brothers's flight is a perfectly legitimate subject for this quarter. The extremely horizontal orientation of the picture bothers me for reasons that I can't quite articulate. I also wished it would say "First In Flight," like the license plates do. But it's a pretty good depiction of an important event, so I can't make any major objections.
Rating: 15¢

Rhode Island
This picture is gorgeous. While Rhode Island tries to make itself out to be this nautical state, I spent five years there before and after college and saw the actual ocean maybe half a dozen times. Whether it's accurate or aspirational, the quarter captures this sailing scene perfectly. Very few state quarters are effective tourism advertisements. This one is.
Rating: 25¢

Vermont
I'd say that a hammer and sickle would be the most representative thing that Vermont could put on their quarters, but the idyllic New England scene of tapping maple trees for syrup works as well. The quarter even contains a shout-out to the Green Mountains in the background. I'm not crazy about the motto, but I can deal with it.
Rating: 20¢

Kentucky
I think that the dual themes of horse racing and rich white Southern gentlemen would be better captured by a scene of Churchill Downs, but this image will do. It's large and commanding without being overly busy. My only suggested change would be to replace "My Old Kentucky Home" (it's the title of a song, not a slogan) with "The Bluegrass State."
Rating: 20¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 2000

Massachusetts
Okay, maybe I'm partial because this quarter features my home state and depicts a statute located in my home town. But in my opinion, this quarter is exactly what a state quarter should be: outline of the state, important icon of the state, state nickname, and that's it. I still think that "The Bay State" isn't a particularly descriptive nickname for the state, but we have to work with what we're given.
Rating: 25¢

Maryland
The structure in the center is supposed to be the dome of the Maryland state capitol. It's framed by two random branches and an off-center nickname. Blah. My feeling is that you should be able to look at the picture and immediately know what state it belongs to. Oak trees could be anywhere, and while I'd have a fighting chance of recognizing the Maryland state capitol if you showed me the whole thing, I can't do it by the dome alone.
Rating: 5¢

South Carolina
This quarter borders on having too much going on, but doesn't quite cross that line. The state outline, the iconic palmetto tree, and the nickname are perfect. I don't think the star for the capital is necessary, and while I don't know what the bird and the flowers are supposed to be, at least they look pretty.
Rating: 20¢

New Hampshire
It features the Old Man of the Mountain, may he rest in peace. That's about it. Yeah, you have the state motto also, because New Hampshire is proud of its "Live Free Or Die" heritage. The nine stars represent that New Hampshire was the ninth state that ratified the Constitution. While the stars do a nice job of completing the circle, their symbolism doesn't strike me as particularly important. All in all, though, it's a bold yet simple presentation of what is clearly the state's most preeminent icon.
Rating: 20¢

Virginia
The settlement of Jamestown -- the first colonization of the Americas by the English -- is undoubtedly an important event to commemorate. But, technically speaking, the quarter does not commemorate the settlement. Instead in commemorates the quadricentennial of the settlement, which was schedule to take place seven years after the quarter was issued. How can you commemorate something that hasn't happened yet? Otherwise, it's a pretty nice picture that would benefit even more from the addition of something else (not sure what, but at least something).
Rating: 10¢

50 State Quarters Rated: 1999

This post is the first of a sporadic 10-part series in which I will offer my opinion on the designs of each of the state quarters in the U.S. Mint's 50 State Quarters Program. We'll group them by year of issue, and rate them on a scale with 25¢ as the maximum.

Delaware
I didn't know who Caesar Rodney was when this quarter first came out. Then, I saw the play 1776 and realized that he rode eighty miles through an overnight thunderstorm to reach Philadelphia in time to break a deadlock on the vote for independence. Pretty cool stuff. Given that Delaware has little else to boast about, his choice is as good as anything. I don't like how they include his name there, but without it, it would just be a generic guy on horseback.
Rating: 15¢

Pennsylvania
This quarter gets points for the state outline and the little keystone silhouette, which is an important emblem for Pennsylvania. But the generic-looking allegorical statute and the non-descript motto really doesn't tell me a damn thing about the state. Why not include Independence Hall or the Three Rivers of Pittsburgh or Ben Franklin or a bunch of Amish guys?
Rating: 10¢

New Jersey
The petrochemical plants of Elizabeth or Tony Soprano would not portray the state in a very favorable light. (A portrait of Bon Jovi, though, would be great.) So, New Jersey opted to replicate a scene from a famous painting that depicted an important turning point in the American Revolution. Very classy.
Rating: 20¢

Georgia
I am generally a fan of state quarters that feature an outline of the state, so we know exactly what we're talking about. The peach is a great touch, since peach imagery is so pervasive down in Georgia. But what's with another generic motto on an assymetrical scroll? And what do those branches have to do with anything?
Rating: 15¢

Connecticut
This quarter has a tree, devoid of leaves, next to a stone wall. That's it. I know it's the Charter Oak, which was a tree in Hartford where the original colony charter was hidden when some British guy threatened to destroy it. Evidently, it's a big enough deal in Connecticut to name a bridge after it, but the quarter itself provides almost no information about the state.
Rating: 5¢

Amazing Malaysia

It's not all than uncommon for The Amazing Race to visit a city which I had already seen myself. However, this past Sunday, when the teams were sent to Kuala Lumpur, they passed through the same very places that I had been not ten days earlier (granted, the show was filmed in December of 2006, but that's a technicality). Here's where TAR got things correct, and where they didn't capture the true nature of KL.

When the teams arrived in KL, they had to use public transportation to reach the Batu Caves. As the teams struggled to figure out which bus to take, I yelled "Take Bus 11," which was the same bus I used less than two weeks before. Once at the caves, teams had to scale the 272 steps to the cave mouth -- no small feat given Malaysia's year-round heat and humidity -- though teams missed out on stepping inside Cathedral Cave to see the shrines and to receive a blessing from a Hindu priest in a brief but fascinating ceremony.

The cookie-eating detour was performed in the Chow Kit street market, one of several in KL. I visited the Central Market, near the "muddy confluence" of rivers from which KL derives its name. Near there, I stopped for lunch at an Indian-style cafe, where I was somehow able to communicate my order through rudimentary English and lots of pointing. Teams also had to find a clue near a mosque, which highlighted the fact that Malaysia is an Islamic country. I've been to the Middle East before and I thought I knew what Muslims looked like. But these Muslims were Asian, and many of their religious structures have a distinctly Asian feeling.

During the newspaper roadblock, you noticed how friendly people were in running up to the contestants and not only giving them as many newspapers as possible but taking the newspapers out to their cart and helping to stack them up. In my experience, Malaysians were incredibly friendly, from helping me get off the bus at the right place to see Batu Caves (and telling me where to wait for the return trip) to stopping me on the street to ask the time and discuss where I'm from. These aren't Egyptian conmen who approach Western tourists on the street and offer to give them directions but instead guide them into the shop belonging to their friend the perfume merchant. These are honest, genuinely friendly locals who want you stay to be as enjoyable as possible. On the 15-minute bus ride from the border crossing to Johor Bahru's central bus station -- the first thing I needed to do after entering the country -- I met two separate people who wanted my email address so they could keep in touch. Pretty cool.

One thing that The Amazing Race didn't showcase is Malaysia's desire to modernize itself and fly into the 21st century. KL has numerous ultra-modern skyscrapers, particularly the Petronas Towers, which are the tallest twin towers in the world and were once the world's tallest building overall (and the setting for the climax of the movie Entrapment). KL also has a brand new monorail system, an imposing communications tower, and a number of gargantuan megamalls.

It might not yet be a superpower, but KL is on its way to being a significant player in the economics of that part of the world. Above all, it's a fascinating and welcoming place to visit. As usual, The Amazing Race did it justice.

For my Kuala Lumpur pictures, click here.