They are illegal in my city, but that does not stop some from buying them and setting them off, starting with a few practice sessions a day or two before, followed by a big blowout on the 4th.
My original intention was to take a photo a day for a year but a long winter cold and traveling changed the plan. I continue to take photographs, but not necessarily every day.
Because I am so sporatic about posting, I highly recommend subscribing to this post using the rss feed. I've posted tutorial links below on how to do this.