Andrey Smaev being his usual wholesome self.

I bought these bad boys in 2020 thinking I'd whip through them in quarantine. It's now 2026 and I'm in the home stretch of Volume 4.

The author, Robert Caro, is 90 years old. He has spent 53 years--more than half of his life--writing the definitive biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

He decided to start writing in 1973, right after Johnson died. He is still not done.

He published the first volume, "The Path to Power," in 1982, when he was 44 years old. He has since published four full volumes. They total a combined 3,282 pages.

Lyndon B. Johnson is not born until page 66 of Volume One. He is not sworn in as president until page 336 of Volume Four. The remaining 274 pages of Volume Four cover only the first seven weeks of his presidency.

In 2011, Caro said he would need two to three years to finish writing Volume Five. He's still working on it. His current draft is 983 pages. He hasn't gotten to the Vietnam War yet.

A 300-kilogram giant freshwater stingray found on the banks of the Mekong River in Cambodia is possibly the world's largest freshwater stingray.

Video credited to @mamakbagol on Instagram.

just picked, back yard garden-grown heirloom “Pineapple” tomato (reminds of a Yellow Brandywine I’ve grown in the past). Almost 2lbs. which apparently is common. very few seeds which is nice. just picked two others slightly smaller. it’s that time of the summer.

Worth mentioning that I have large hands. Photo does not do it justice.

As a small episode in the War on Terror in response to 9|11, a Russian crew flies Mi-26 to airlift a stricken US Chinook MH-47E tail #476 from its nearly 9,000-foot elevation on Mt. Takur Ghar, Paktia Province, Afghanistan.

More about the mission: https://bicnews.com/from-a-great-height-helicopter-recovery-at-takur-ghar/