Prepare for some gut-wrenching cuteness.

This rhesus macaque monkey has adopted a stray pup, and they live together on a New Delhi street.

Dinamalar / Via Facebook: Dinamalardaily

Tamil daily Dinamalar and Zee News report that the mommy-child pair is getting a lot of attention from locals, who are mesmerised and touched by their bond.

Dinamalar / Via dinamalar.com

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Madewell just came out with their spring 2016 collection. Right now, it’s only available for pre-order, but we are loving EVERY. SINGLE. THING. (How pretty is that backless dress above?) We talked to Joyce Lee, their new head designer, about the collection she calls “a mix of our usual tomboy with a little feminine nod.”

Joyce’s style icons include her mother, Charlotte Rampling and the women of the ’70s (which really shows!).… Read more

The post Madewell’s Spring Collection appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

♫ I can’t take my eyes off of your track jacket. ♫

The Canadian Tuxedo

Trying to win back your girl and you show up in THIS, Troy?

Disney

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And you can help me get there! It's so much easier now too. All you have to do is.... CLICK THIS LINK!!!!!!!!!

so easy!

Robert Lawrie was spared jail on Thursday after admitting trying to help a 4-year-old Afghan girl into Britain. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, he explained what led to that moment.

A former British soldier has told how stumbling on a picture of drowned toddler Alan Kurdi started a chain of events that led to him trying to smuggle a young refugee girl into Britain from France.

Robert Lawrie with Bahar Ahmadi ahead of the trial on Thursday.

Denis Charlet / AFP / Getty Images

Robert Lawrie, 49, from Guiseley, Leeds, told BuzzFeed News he didn't think he'd ever be involved in the refugee crisis that has engulfed Europe. But on a Saturday night in early September last year, Lawrie's viewpoint changed when he saw the photo of Alan Kurdi, who had drowned in the Aegean sea and was found washed up on a beach in Turkey.

"When I saw that photo, I remember I sat in the dark," Lawrie said. "I didn't have a light on, just the glare of the computer screen, and I looked at that photo. I must have looked at it for an hour. I was looking at his little fingers and hair, and his elbows, I imagined how cold it would have been, and thought of his dying mum. I thought of my own children, how it could have been them."

On Thursday, Lawrie admitted to a court in Boulogne that he had attempted to sneak 4-year-old Bahar Ahmadi – known as Bru – into Britain from the Jungle refugee camp in Calais. The French court dropped a tougher smuggling charge and gave Lawrie a suspended €1,000 (£750) fine for endangering child safety, according to the Associated Press.

"Don't do it, learn from my lesson," Lawrie told press as he left the court, accompanied by Bru and her family. "France has done the right thing, compassion has won."

Speaking ahead of the trial, Lawrie told BuzzFeed News about the turning moment that led to him trying to get Bru to relatives who were living legally near him in the UK.

The Alan Kurdi photo, which caused international outrage and pushed the refugee crisis into the forefront of public attention, was etched in Lawrie's mind. Within a week of seeing it, he quit his job and headed to Calais, France, to volunteer.

"So much was going through my mind when I saw that photo, it was just tragic," he said. "People looked at that photo, but can you try and imagine those dying last moments in the water, freezing water? I just thought, I am 6 foot 2, I'm a pretty strong guy, physically fit – you know what, I've got to do something here."

Bahar Ahmadi

Jon Super / AP

"When I got to the Jungle," Lawrie said, "I was just staggered that this was in France in 2015. When I arrived in September, it was warm, but I knew what was coming – I knew how cold winter could be."

Lawrie started designing and building shelters in the camp, which has become home to several thousand refugees. Lawrie raised money and collected hundreds of tents and sleeping bags for those living in what some researchers have described as "diabolical" and a "humanitarian emergency". He taught many of those living in the camp how to build the shelters, and set up tents to speed up the process. One afternoon, as he was building a shelter, a small girl approached him.

"This small girl tugged on the back of my shirt," he said. "Her big, big brown eyes looked at me and gave me a big smile. Her dad stood behind her, and he said something in Arabic to another guy who spoke English, and he said I must be special because she doesn't go to anyone or talk to anyone.

"It broke my heart that she came up and tugged my shirt. After that, Bru started following me around everywhere. She was always smiling, she wanted to hold my hand as I walked around the camp – it was a real paternal instinct. Her dad needed a rest from looking after her for such long hours."

Over the coming weeks, Lawrie built several hundred shelters and worked long days, spending his spare time with Bru and her father.

"I worked 15 hours a day helping refugees build shelters – I must have built around 100 shelters. In the evening, we'd sit around and cook lentils, and sometimes I'd play games like hide and seek with Bru and her friends. On one of those nights, Bru's father came up to me and he asked me for help."

Lawrie said Bru's father asked him to help transport the child to her family, who lived only a few miles away from Lawrie in Leeds. At first, Lawrie said he declined to help. But he felt torn: Did he leave behind Bru, the little girl who clung to him day after day, to struggle through the winter ahead, or did he help her illegally cross an international border?

"She cuddled my knee and went to sleep," he said. "It was like holding my own child. I looked at her dad and I said, 'This can't happen any longer.' He smiled and we never said anything to anyone, and he carried her to my van, where there was a bed compartment for Bru. I got a pillow and a teddy bear, put her to bed, and her father gave her a kiss. The ferry was at midnight, her dad gave me the address, hugged me goodbye, and we left."

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“To have one’s arse filled with noodles” = to be lucky. Makes perfect sense.

In French: Il me court sur le haricot.
What it means: He's annoying me.

James Chapman / BuzzFeed

In French: Pédaler dans la semoule.
What it means: To lose your composure, have trouble doing something.

James Chapman

In French: L’habit ne fait pas le moine.
What it means: Appearances can be deceiving.

James Chapman / BuzzFeed

In French: Avoir la taupe au guichet.
What it means: To be desperate for a shit.

James Chapman / BuzzFeed

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This guy does not half-ass a joke.

A college student in Michigan proved he's not one to half-ass a prank after he hired an entire fake family to troll his relatives with a Christmas card.

Joshua Brassow

Joshua Brassow, 25, is a student at Saginaw Valley State University. He also has a very large family.

Joshua Brassow

Brassow told BuzzFeed News he's one of seven kids, and both his parents also come from large families.

Therefore, he has a large extended family that is hard to keep up with.

"Some of them I haven't seen in five, 10 years," he said.

A few years ago, Brassow had the idea to do a fake Christmas card to prank his relatives into thinking he had a whole family they didn't know about.

Joshua Brassow

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(PG-13: Language) T.J. “CatDad” Browne, Jr. was attempting to celebrate National Cat Day (yup, that’s a thing) by donning a creepy realistic cat mask. Unfortunately, his cats were having none of it. We’d run away too if we saw this guy coming at us.

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Another typical Friday post with my weekly outfit recap, workout recap, and some random chit chat! I'm not sure if I should even bother trying to write an intro for these posts anymore since I feel like I'm just stating the obvious! But thanks for reading this far and off we go...

Outfit Recap:
Jacket: Express / Top: Express (Similar Print of same top) / Short Necklace: Kendra Scott (c/o) / Long Necklace: Express / Jeans: Express / Ring: Target / Bag: Aldo (Similar) / Shoes: Forever 21 (Similar)

Sweater: Express / Cami: Express "Tile Blue" / Necklace: Kendra Scott / Jeans: Express / Booties: Steve Madden / Ring: Kendra Scott (c/o) / Bag: Amazon / Nails: Chanel "Taboo" (gift from Rachelle)

Top: Express (Similar Print of same top) / Necklace: Kendra Scott (c/o) / Jeans: Express / Shoes: Sole Society / Bag: Amazon / Bracelet: Stella & Dot / Ring: Target / Nails: Chanel "Vamp"

Jacket: Express / Top: Express / Necklace: Kendra Scott (c/o) / Bag: Amazon / Jeans: Express / Shoes: Express / Nails: Chanel "Taboo" (gift from Rachelle)


Front View:

Several of the outfits I shared on Instagram this week came from my Four Ways to Wear Taupe Booties post so make sure to check that out if you wanted details on something not shown here!


Fitness Recap:

Here's an outline of the workouts I did this week:

Saturday: Martial Arts class (local studio)
Sunday: Dance classes (local studio)
Monday: Pyramid Lower Body (Amazon)
Tuesday: Turbo Fire Fire 45 (Beachbody)
Wednesday: Pyramid Upper Body (minus the ab work section, will do on Friday) (Amazon)
Thursday: Power Yoga for Happiness 2 (Amazon): Twister Sister Premix
Friday: High Reps, Lower Body Premix (Amazon) + Pyramid Upper Body, Abs Chapter  (Amazon)

As I do these recaps each week, over time it will be clear that I have a pretty extensive home workout DVD library. Just keep in mind that I've been working out at home for over ten years now so the collection has had a long time to grow! Luckily workouts don't go out of style as quickly as clothes so even some of my oldest workouts are still in frequent use.


Back in Stock:

While I don't wear scarves myself anymore (the length of my hair doesn't really agree with them), it was all over Instagram that this Blanket Scarf from Express is back in stock again. It sold out quickly last fall, so if you were sad that you missed out on it last year, looks like you have a second chance!

Snapchat: Pros & Cons

In my Snapchat Trends discussion in this post, Daphnee commented that she was on the fence about Snapchat and asked me to share my Pros and Cons. Since I didn't do a very good job of keeping up with Snapchat and observing trends this week, now seems like a good week to do pros and cons instead!



PROS:

Food:
The people I follow share lots of great inspiration for clean eating, healthy meals on the go, and meal prep. (@pinksole_rach and @tracy_hensel are two of my favorites for this.)

Low Stress: 
For me, Snapchat is the least stressful social media. Your pictures don't get "likes" in a highly visible way and your follower list is invisible to others. So if no one follows you or likes what you post, no one knows or cares. Snapchat images are also much more casual. You have  to take the pictures with the app (no perfectly staged DSLR images allowed) and can only use a few in-app filters. So the quality expectations are much different than blogs or Instagram.

Voices! Movement! 
Videos are very popular on Snapchat (especially filmed MTV Diary Style), and people just come to life when you hear their voice and (in some cases) see them move. You can only record 10 seconds at a time, but lots of people will record multiple ten-second segments to make their point or share something.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! 
It is so interesting to me just to see the scenery where other people live. What their town looks like, their freeway, their schools, their Target, etc. It just gives a better feel of different parts of the country, especially places I've never been. And of course, some people I follow (@iamgalla for instance) travel to some truly incredible places and it's fun to feel like I'm tagging along!

CONS: 

Food: 
The people I follow share lots and lots of donuts, cookies, cakes, fried chicken, and other delicious-but-bad-for-you food. Beware of the cravings for stuff you didn't know you wanted to eat if join! (Sorry, I'm guilty of this!)

Voices! Movement! 
As much as I love video, the drawback for me is that I can't catch up on my Snapchat feed while I'm in the doctor's office waiting room or checkout line at the grocery store unless I want everyone in the vicinity to hear my friend talk about her latest purchase or road rage. So I kind of need to be in a quiet, semi-private place to catch up on Snapchat, and that means I just can't keep up sometimes. It can take quite a bit longer to catch up on your Snapchat feed than on your Insta-feed because those ten second videos can really add up!

Oh, the FOMO!
Just like every other social media, it's easy to feel like everyone is going on more vacations, eating better food, and living a more exciting life in general because of course, this is the highlight reel! I will say people share a lot more mundane, everyday stuff on Snapchat than I see on IG so it still feels more down-to-earth to me. But I'm still much more likely to share Snaps from Date Night than Laundry Day. I like my social media to be fun, and sharing the boring stuff just isn't that fun for me, even though it's 95% of my life and 0% of my Snapchat Story!

Years ago, watching the documentary Happy, I learned about communal homes in Denmark, where multiple families and single people of all ages share a big space.… Read more

The post Two Families Sharing a House (Would You?) appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

On this dreary Wednesday, here are a three fun things to brighten up your scene. First off, have you seen the new show, Casual? It’s a Hulu Original show about a newly divorced woman who moves in with her bachelor brother.… Read more

The post Three Fun Things appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

They literally found love in a hopeless place.

These are newlyweds Kate Queram and Brandon Wagoner — or, as they were once known in the ESPN comments section, bleu_girl_04 and AAWolv.

Long before their Oct. 24, wedding, they first "met" on January 30, 2012, while joking about being some of the only Michigan fans on ESPN. Queram signed up after moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, and missing the rabid college football fans she'd left behind.

Commenting soon became part of her regular routine, as did "talking" to Wagoner. "I liked him right away," she told BuzzFeed Life, noting that many commenters thought she was a man. "He was funny and flirty and he could spell, and he was, of course, a Michigan fan. He made me laugh, and every time I logged on, I hoped he would be there."

She was purportedly one of the only women commenting, Wagoner said. "I was immediately struck by how hilarious and fun she is," he said. "Beyond that, I didn’t think that anything serious would occur, because, well, we were commenting on an ESPN blog." Both of them had graduated from Michigan, but Queram had in 2004 and Wagoner had in 2011, so they never crossed paths.

Their interactions became frequent and flirty, so much so that fellow commenters started calling them a "blog couple," a title they didn't fight. At one point, Wagoner jokingly "proposed" by uploading a picture of a Michigan 1997 Championship ring to the comments. At the time, they still didn't know each other's names.

Courtesy of Kate Queram

A year later, the Manti Te'o scandal broke, and hiding behind an online alias raised serious concerns.

"When the Te'o thing happened, all the guys started up the 'but are you a guy, really?' comments again, and this time even Brandon said something along the lines of, 'But really, am I being catfished?'" Queram said. Tired of the questions, which had been happening since she started commenting, she sent Wagoner a private message with her Twitter handle to prove her identity. From there, they exchanged email addresses, and started talking — a lot.

Two months later, in March 2013, Wagoner drove from Ann Arbor to Wilmington (a 12-hour trip) to meet Queram for the first time. Even though he was "so nervous that I could barely stand," they hit it off instantly.

Their relationship got serious pretty quickly from there. Queram says her friends and family were supportive of her unconventional love story from the start, but Wagoner said some of his loved ones were a bit more skeptical. "I never lied [about how we met], but I didn’t go out of my way to tell everyone at first," he said.

Kate Queram

They got married in Queram's hometown of Middleton, Wisconsin, but their wedding was pure Michigan.

They played the college fight song, and ESPN was there to film the whole thing. Both Queram and Wagoner incorporated the story of how they met into their vows. Queram said, "Since the very first time we ever talked on that ridiculous football blog, you have been the best part of my day. I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the best part of yours."

Their officiant also told the story of how they met (without mentioning Manti Te'o), and both the best man and Queram's father mentioned it in their toasts. "I think most of the people at our wedding knew the story, at least in some way, so I don't think any of it was a shock," Queram said.

Courtesy of Kate Queram

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Writes our anonymous submitter: “Pity the fools of the Crestwood, Kentucky ‘Crips.’ They can’t even scare old ladies.”

related: Oh, sure, blame it on the crackhead.

The Tonight Show had Hugh Jackman and Shaquille O’Neal battle in a trivia game where they each stay in a phone booth, and each round the loser had to accommodate a new person. This makes us wonder how Alex Trebek would fare as a Jeopardy! contestant.

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Operation: Get Grannie To The Bridge was a success.

Dorothy Goodwin wanted one thing for her 94th birthday: to cross the new suspension bridge at Elk Falls Provincial Park in British Columbia. It was one her bucket list.

Campbell River Mirror

Elk Falls Suspension Bridge Project

Elk Falls Suspension Bridge Project

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Fall is in full swing, with pumpkins on doorsteps and crunchy leaves underfoot. We’ve been craving cozy plaids and romantic braids. Our stylist friend Reagan (a hair genius) stopped by to show us this simple braided updo.… Read more

The post Horseshoe Braid appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

Have you heard of the new podcast Limetown? The first two episodes are getting rave reviews. It’s a fictional story full of suspense. (Our friend said, “I was COVERED in goosebumps for fully the last ten minutes of episode 2.”)

Here’s the premise: Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again.… Read more

The post Great New Podcast appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

This fall, we’ve been spotting pretty looks – from flower print dresses to cuffed jeans — on women around town. Here are seven inspiring ensembles I’d love to copy…

1.… Read more

The post 7 Fall Street Style Trends appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

For our final post of this year’s Motherhood Around the World series, we talked to Angelina Allen de Melo, a professional ballet dancer. She lives in Sweden’s second largest city, Gothenburg, with her husband, Fernando, and two-year-old daughter, Lucia.… Read more

The post 14 Surprising Things About Parenting in Sweden appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

Hovertext: No more syntax for you. Only precious gurgling noises.

New comic!
Today's News:

You're coming to see me and The Oatmeal and Abby Howard this weekend, right?!

 

Claire Mazur is one of the co-founders of the beautifully curated site Of a Kind (and the bride from this Spiderman ring bearer wedding). Here, she shares her tips for styling curly hair, the best cleanser for lazy nighttime face-washers and how running helped alleviate her depression…

Do you wear makeup?… Read more

The post My Beauty Uniform: Claire Mazur appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

If the technological claims of the guys behind the Skarp are true, we could soon be shaving with a razor that replaces blades with a laser. It’s waterproof, skin-safe, and runs for up to a month on a single AAA battery. Sign us up!

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• Price: $159+

(via)

For years, I’ve had the most boring iPhone case (one of the black ones from the Verizon store). But I just got a new phone and am inspired to finally shake things up.… Read more

The post 16 Great Phone Cases appeared first on A Cup of Jo.

How to be Smarter: Book Recommendation: Rising Strong by Brene Brown. Rising Strong is the newest book from the author of the successful 2013 non-fiction Daring Greatly [I recommended that one here]. Just like her earlier work, this book is sparking a cultural conversation – this time around failure, success, and the value in the stories we tell yourself when you fail. This is one you don’t want to miss.

How to be Prettier: This dress is slightly more whimsical than what I usually wear, but I really like it. Adding to my cart now! [And it's under $40].

How to be (less) Awkward: Great advice in this blog post on cold call email etiquette, including a specific template to use when emailing someone you don’t know and asking them to grab coffee.

While most people install dashcams in their cars in order to record accidents, they’ve also been known to capture other events. For instance, this small plane made an emergency landing in Irvine, California, and taxied down the street along with the rest of traffic.

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I was thinking this morning about the fact that I've had a great summer, which made me want to list all of the reasons that it's been so fun. Plus, Elisha's been saying and doing a lot of cute things, so I wanted to write about those, too. Here we go!

1) Spending time with my side of the family in California. We went to Disneyland to celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday with all of my dad's side of the family and had so much fun together! I also realized that it was the first time in my life that I had a date at Disneyland. And not even just one date. I had two of them! I loved being able to introduce Andrew and Elisha to everything in the park. We were able to see Mickey right away when we got into California Adventure and Elisha spent the majority of the photo opportunity pounding Mickey's fist and blowing it up. The best part was that Mickey didn't even seem to be aware that was happening. He just put his arms around Eiley and Elisha while looking at the camera.




2) Going to Atlanta to spend time with the Fortune family. We had Supper Club approximately once per month when they lived in Virginia, so we continued that tradition while we were visiting. We also discovered that their 3 year old daughter, Mary Carol, has quite the crush on... Andrew? Mary Carol and Elisha have been betrothed since we found out we were having a boy, but it was, "Andrew, will you read to me? Andrew, will you play tea party with me? Andrew, will you sit next to me?" I thought it was hilarious and Andrew, of course, wasn't going to say no to any of her requests, but he was still a little awkward about it.



3) Andrew said that they were watching TV one day and Elisha told him, "I'm pooping!... It hurts!... Kiss it." Elisha's become a big fan of having his injuries kissed and made all better, but he was on his own for that one. I've also gotten quite a few mosquito bites this summer and he'll randomly go to kiss my leg, then tell me, "All better." It's so sweet, yet kind of gross.
4) Speaking of kissing, Elisha has also started standing behind Andrew and me with one arm around each of our shoulders, then he'll push our faces together to make us kiss. It's very adorable and I'll remind him of that when he's grossed out by us expressing any type of affection toward each other when he's older.
5) Elisha and I got to visit Miss Kim in Washington D.C. because she was there for a work trip. We got to catch up on life and stop by the White House to look at the outside of it. Elisha ended up falling asleep in his stroller while we were in front of the White House, so I guess he wasn't that impressed.
6) Andrew and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary while we were in California by going to the food trucks. Nothing says romance like eating dinner in a parking lot. But seriously, it was delicious and I think it will end up being one of our more memorable dates because it was kind of random. We also celebrated our anniversary in Virginia 3 weeks later by going to dinner at Dudley's (where we ate on our accidental honeymoon in Williamsburg) and going to Busch Gardens, which was the least crowded I had seen it in years.
7) We also got to see a taping of "The Soup" while we were in California. I've watched it almost every week since it started in 2004 and it was so cool to be in the audience. Everyone in the audience also got to take pictures with Joel McHale after the taping, which was incredibly kind of him, because he said that he was going to be leaving on a plane for Seattle about 90 minutes after the show ended that night.
8) Hanging out with Emmy, Grandma, Eiley, Margot, and Elisha one Saturday night while we were out there. Grandma ordered takeout for all of us from Stonefire Grill (Tri-tip! Caesar Salad!Breadsticks!) and then we mocked "Christian Mingle" after putting the kids to bed. Actually, Emmy and I mocked "Christian Mingle" and Grandma fell asleep after about 20 minutes. :)
9) We got involved with a Connect Group at our church this summer and I'm really enjoying the people in our group. We haven't been able to do a ton with them because we were out of town so much, but I'm excited to get to know everyone better.
10) I got a text from Andrew when I was at work soon after our trip. He said that Elisha had been pushing a suitcase around the house while singing the ABC's and wearing his hat and shoes. That pretty much sums up life with a 2 year old.




11) EILEY LET ME DO HER HAIR!

YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE CUTE.

HERE IS A BABY ROO WITH TWO BABY EMUS YOU ARE WELCOME.

Sorry, just had to get that out.

BUT SERIOUSLY LOOK HOW CUTE.

Newspix / Newspix/REX Shutterstock

The day-old emu chicks Edi and Eli are besties with their foster brother, 8-month-old Reuben, at Victoria's Wild Action Zoo.

Newspix / Newspix/REX Shutterstock

Zoologist Chris Humfrey told BuzzFeed he brought the chicks into his home to protect them from feral foxes.

"We have so many wild feral foxes in Australia. The father emu 'Elvis' would not have been able to protect the chicks from being eaten at night. Now these bundles of fluff sleep next to my fireplace... they all live quite happily together."

Newspix / Newspix/REX Shutterstock

Edi and Eli will be released into the open paddocks with their parents when they're bigger - UNTIL THEN THEY WILL ENJOY CUDDLES WITH THIS BABY ROO AND OUR HEARTS WILL BURST FROM THE CUTE.

Newspix / Newspix/REX Shutterstock

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This is Why Terry Crews is the best.

Exhibit A: March 11, 2014

Archeologists have discovered this is about when the jumping began.

Gregg Deguire / WireImage

Exibit B: May 21, 2014

He jumps again.

Steve Granitz / WireImage

Exhibit C: May 22, 2014

Feet are still in the air.

Mark Davis / Getty Images

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On 7/15/15 artist Cai Guo­-Qiang and locals in Quanzhou, China launched and lit the Sky Ladder, a 1640ft. tall firework. Cai says it’s a symbol of hope and affection for his hometown and loved ones. More here.

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