To celebrate Ike and Connie's shared birthday, I'm setting aside my usual irreverence and posting something... nice. It's such a magical day that I can almost feel the corners of my mouth turning up as I type that. Almost. Sure I'm delirious from planning a first birthday party for a kid that won't even remember it, but I could swear that there are unicorns with sparklers dancing across a rainbow right outside my window...

But seriously, check out the work of Jeroen Koolhas and Dre Urhahn, two dudes who turned a frown upside down by painting a slum in Rio de Janeiro with the brightest palette imaginable. By painting favelas (Brazilian/Portuguese for slum), Koolhas and Urhahn transform communities through color as well as education. Locals are provided with training and pay while reworking the favelas.