This is Luceros y Penumbras, a one-of-a-kind pop-up book currently on display at the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. The Library Foundation for Los Angeles informs us that it measures 30 feet by 21 feet and the pop-ups are 11 feet high.

Don't expect to check it out from the library. The book weighs 1,800 pounds! LAist reports that artist Daniel González and paper engineer Matthew Reinhart worked together to design and build this book made out of linoleum. It has four pages and two scenes that pop up as they are opened. You can visit and read it at the library until November.

The world has fallen in love with Jimothy, a raccoon that lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. He has an adorably abbreviated, stumpy appearance. Smithonian magazine explains that it's most likely due to a rare disorder called short spine syndrome. Despite this disability, Jimothy scampers well and appears to be able to fend for himself in the wild.

Jimothy is a heroic figure, defying the entropic call upon mortal flesh to fall to weakness and despair. That's why we sell a t-shirt with his visage at the NeatoShop.

He has also inspired Phoebe Sanders, a banjoist who specializes in making puppets that dance.

Marc Schulz builds custom mobility scooters that will make you laugh and take you places. One of his models is this scooter designed to resemble the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. On his Instagram page, you can see appearances of the scooter in parades where it provides classy style and functionality.

Schulz informs readers that he's now working on a scooter that looks like the landspeeder from Star Wars.

Your 2026 Solon Beef Days Hay Bale Toss Champion ➡️ @CaelWinter pic.twitter.com/REoo1lHif5

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) July 18, 2026

Solon, Iowa is the home of Beef Days, an annual festival of food, music, and sports. One of its feats of strength competitions is the hay bale toss. The goal is to toss a hay bale over a bar set high

The winner this year was Cael Winter, a football player with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, having thrown the bale thirteen feet and six inches. You can see his winning toss above or watch the entire 2 hour and 27 minute contest here.

-via David Burge

Andy Beth Miller of The Takeout undertook the laborious task of evaluating the many beef sandwiches available across the United States and selecting the best from each state. Seriously, there's a methodology section at the end because this is science.

Part of good scientific research is replication of experiments, for which I volunteer.

Seven of the sandwiches are reubens, of course. But this one pictured above also has my attention: the three-way roast beef from The Modern Butcher in Danvers, Massachusetts. It's a delicacy available only one day a week because preparation includes a 16-hour sous vide. It has garlic, mayonnaise, and very rare roast beef.

Photo:The Modern Butcher

Like actor Ed O'Neill, I'm only vaguely aware of Taylor Swift. I know that Batboy was caught flipping a grunt, but that's about the extent of my cognizance of pop culture.

Fortunately, I have teenage daughters who tell me that there are numerous references in this video to Taylor Swift songs including "Getaway Car" and "Cruel Summer" in just the first 20 seconds of this video (they declined to watch any more of it) by Dustin Ballard's There I Ruined It.

Other Ballard videos in this theme include music by AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and the bro country genre of music.

It is hot outside. Like, really hot. Dangerously hot if you stay out too long.

Sora News 24 brings us a solution from Japan. The company SRDS manufactures refrigerators and vending machines. It has re-purposed some of its designs to create boxes where people can seek temporary relief from the heat a 59ºF environment.

The Do Hiemon Box provides a seat and blows cold air on the head, neck, shoulders, and back to prevent and counteract heat exhaustion.

The machine has three airflow settings and automatically shuts off after 20 minutes of use. One is already in public use at the city hall of Maebashi in central Honshu.

Little Horrors Glassworks in Atlanta produces works of stained glass that are terrifying and amusing if you have a sick sense of humor like I do. Her corpus includes many facehuggers from the Alien franchise because you always need more facehuggers in your life.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland is, apparently, a romantic venue for couples. A few days ago, Jacob and Selena became engaged there when Jacob dropped to one knee and popped the research question.

Note that the museum was an enthusiastic participant in the plot. I gather that it allowed Jacob to place the engagement ring in an exhibit and direct attention to it with an official marker.

How do you set the mood? Direct your lady to a mock-up of some grisly surgical procedure. Then wait for her to read the placard and turn around.

-via Patrick Heizer

X user Patrick Heizer brings to our attention this geographical oddity. Under the current law of the sea, nations have exclusive economic regulatory authority over a certain distance beyond their territorial seas.

Many of these claims overlap each other or lead to unusual borders for the exclusive economic zones. The Bering Sea Donut Hole refers to one such area that was heavily overfished in the 1980s. Several nations with large fishing fleets rejected American claims to the maritime region.

The Donut Hole Convention (as it was popularly but not officially called) is a 1994 treaty between the United States, Russia, Poland, Korea, Japan, and China determining the status of the area.

Yes, that's Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with all words replaced with meows.

You may think it's a fun gag, but have you seen the state of public education these days? Many cats are functionally illiterate. Even those cats who can read at grade level aren't getting exposure to the classics.

Fortunately, the Meow Library is here to help. This organization has translated essential works from the Western canon into cat, including War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, The Odyssey, and the Constitution of the United States of America.

The organization also has a podcast for cats interested in engaging with serious literature.

For security reasons, many public performance venues do not allow people to bring in bags unless they are transparent. Accessory makers manufacture and sell specialized bags to accommodate this need.

Etsy seller Slater the Creatorr of Chattanooga, Tennessee offers an alternative: a clear plastic corset. In a video on Instagram, she demonstrates how to use it.

Around the year 480, Saint Brigid formed a convent in the town of Kildare in east central Ireland. The abbey and its compound was razed and rebuilt many times. The present structure, which includes a cathedral, dates to the Thirteenth Century and was restored in the late Nineteenth Century.

As well as serving as a Catholic house of worship, it is a popular tourist destination. Visitors will find that one corner has a hole reaching through the other side. This is called the Wishing Hole or Wishing Stone. The story goes that if you stick your arm through the hole, touch your shoulder, and make a wish, the wish will come true.

-via Maddie Smith | Photos: 瑞丽江的河水/TripAdvisor

Everything I know about Vermont I learned by watching Newhart, so this home for sale on Zillow fits in nicely to my mental image of the place. The four bedroom, two bedroom, four cell house was built in in 1880 and later served as the residence of the Essex County jailer until 1969.

Colossal introduces us to Helena Minginowicz, a Polish artist. Her oeuvre includes detailed human figures, sensuous nudes, and disposable objects in a throw-away world.