Mar 7, 2013 | CAPITALS
Next in CAPITALS: Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There are a number of theories regarding the origin of this city’s name, many of them not suitable for all audiences. Baton Rouge means “red stick”. I’ll leave it at...
Mar 6, 2013 | CAPITALS
Up next in CAPITALS is Annapolis, Maryland. Initially this design came from the fact that Maryland is abbreviated “MD” and I couldn’t think of anything else to say about Annapolis. As it turns out, a hospital is the leading employer in the city, so we’ll just pretend that I knew that all...
Mar 5, 2013 | CAPITALS
We’re now approaching Denver, Colorado in CAPITALS. Not much to say about this one. Denver is the mile high city,...
Mar 4, 2013 | CAPITALS
Next up in CAPITALS: Boise, Idaho. Locals pronounce this city “BOY-see,” not “BOY-zee.” Outsiders don’t pronounce it at all because Boise doesn’t generally come up in conversation, but now you too can sound like a local. Check that off the bucket...
Mar 3, 2013 | CAPITALS
Now in CAPITALS, it’s Salem, Oregon. Admittedly, this design is not easily connected to Salem, but there is a connection. First of all, I was going for a bit of a creepy vibe because when I hear “Salem,” I naturally think “witch trials,” even if it is the wrong Salem. Also in the realm of the creepy, the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed at a local hospital. Look up that movie and you’ll see a lot of black, white, and red images. Alas, I had my color scheme. As for the water drops, it is the Pacific Northwest and frankly I just wanted to try this...
Mar 2, 2013 | CAPITALS
Moving to the Pacific Northwest, it’s time for Olympia in CAPITALS. This is Washington, so a rain theme was inevitable. On average, Olympia has 75% cloud coverage and more rainy days per year than any other city in the lower 48 (poor Alaska…always ignored). Should you bring an umbrella? Yes....
Feb 27, 2013 | CAPITALS
And the next CAPITALS contestant is…Harrisburg. If you’ve ever driven across Pennsylvania, you know that it is a deceptively large state. You’ve got Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and a whole lot of state in between. And by “state,” I mean...
Feb 26, 2013 | CAPITALS
Next in CAPITALS is the city of Topeka. Topeka, Kansas once had the brilliant idea to rename the city Google, Kansas for a month as part of a competition. In return, on April Fool’s Day Google changed its name to Topeka. It was a simple, yet effective April Fool’s joke. As for actual information about the city of Topeka, I have none. That’s what Google is...
Feb 25, 2013 | CAPITALS
Up next in CAPITALS is Indianapolis, Indiana. If I say “Indy,” one of two things will likely follow: 1. “500” 2. “ana Jones” So my design choices were a racetrack or a fedora. I can’t draw hats. Indianapolis is the natural choice for a capital – largest city in the state, centrally located. It may come as a surprise that Indy is actually the 12th largest city in the country with almost 830,000 people (city only, not the metro area). Add to that the people vacationing in the city and you have a grand total of 830,004...
Feb 24, 2013 | CAPITALS
Up next in CAPITALS is Santa Fe, New Mexico. Let’s face it, there were really only two choices here: Albuquerque or Santa Fe. They’re only about 40 miles apart so I suppose they could’ve split the difference, but the only thing in between is tumbleweed. They had to pick...
Feb 23, 2013 | CAPITALS
Phoenix, Arizona is next in CAPITALS. Let’s rise from the ashes, shall we? With a name like Phoenix, this one was a given. Because I feel the need to impart random knowledge, it’s worth noting that Phoenix is the largest U.S. capital. File that in the “information you will never use again” category (my...
Feb 21, 2013 | CAPITALS
Red Rover, Red Rover, send Dover right over. Next in CAPITALS is Dover, Delaware. Back in the day, New Castle was the capital of Delaware. That was during the time when shouts of “the British are coming” struck fear in everyone, and people in New Castle were worried that their prime riverfront location made them a little too vulnerable to the Redcoats. In a move of revolutionary brilliance, the capital was moved to Dover, a whopping 6 miles...
Feb 20, 2013 | CAPITALS
Providence, Rhode Island is now up in CAPITALS. Challenge anyone to name a city in Rhode Island and if they can (a big “if”), it will probably be Providence. That is, of course, unless they are from the Rhode Island area, in which case that’s totally cheating and their answer doesn’t count. But really, Rhode Island is about the size of a quarter and the Providence metro area is essentially the entire state, so capital status seems...
Feb 19, 2013 | CAPITALS
The next entry of CAPITALS: Montpelier, Vermont. We’ve now reached the smallest state capital in terms of population (less than 8,000 people). Little Montpelier may have a French name, but no self-respecting Vermont resident would try to use the correct French pronunciation. That’s not how things are done in...
Feb 18, 2013 | CAPITALS
In honor of President’s Day, it’s time for the presidentially named Madison, Wisconsin in CAPITALS. Madison is a fine capital city, but you might wonder why it wasn’t, say, Milwaukee. My completely unresearched, totally made up rationale is that Milwaukee was too busy with more pressing matters to put in a bid for capital status. After all, it’s 5 o’clock...
Feb 17, 2013 | CAPITALS
Up next in CAPITALS is Minneapolis St. Paul, Minnesota. Saint Paul is forever linked to Minneapolis as one half of the Twin Cities. The two cities do everything together, but oftentimes St. Paul is overshadowed by its larger, taller counterpart. But when it comes to all things capital, it’s all St. Paul. Take that, Minneapolis. Another little factoid: St. Paul used to be called Pig’s Eye. Any wonder why that name didn’t...
Feb 16, 2013 | CAPITALS
The next city in CAPITALS is Pierre, South Dakota. Pierre is the second-smallest state capital (bonus points if you can name the smallest). If that’s not enough minutia for you, here’s another little gem: It’s pronounced like “peer”, not like a thinly mustached...
Feb 13, 2013 | CAPITALS
It’s time for Dakota #1 in CAPITALS. No, the capital of the North Dakota was not really named after a pastry. The city was actually named after Otto von Bismarck, a German dude that did something worthy of a Wikipedia entry (there is a limit to the amount of research I am willing to do). As a side note, since when does “Bismarck” have a “c” in...
