Laura Leu's Cyber Funhouse

Meet Martin, a 5-year-old lady labradoodle who stands on small and/or wobbly things. See her amazing feats of balance here.

Related: Poodle panda.

Master cheesemaker Scott Erickson from Bass Lake Cheese Factory gave me a private cheese curd tutorial while he cooked up a batch. That’s like a wannabe rock star learning guitar riffs from Jimi Hendrix.

Don’t hate, pollinate.

A bat wakes up for a midday snack at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

navigeaters:

It’s National Deep Throat A Hot Dog Day! And in honor of it, here’s a photo of me standing behind Joey Chestnut after he won the 2009 Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Competition by mowing a record-breaking 68 dogs. For two years, I proudly served as Chestnut’s “Bunnette,” the girl who counts hot dogs, roots for the eaters and entertains the crowd. In a nutshell, I was a competitive-eating cheerleader.

Sharing a stage with professional gluttons and being sprayed with wiener shrapnel may not sound like an accomplishment to most, but for me, it was a dream come true. I had always aspired to become a competitive eater until an overzealous bite of a hot dog nearly left me dead and certainly left me fearful of chewing massive amounts of meat at a rapid rate. All of my gorging dreams, dashed.

But this is America, the land of opportunity. It’s where hot dogs were invented, where competitive eating is considered a sport and, of course, where dreams are made. And even though I wasn’t shoveling hot dogs into my maw, I was still a part of the greatest eating competition in the world — without having to deal with post-match meat sweats.

So thanks for making my dreams come true, America. Happy Independence Day…and go Chestnut!

New use for an antique glass urinal: flower vase. Naturally, I put peeonies in it.

I searched “punch” on Flickr and discovered the world’s most adorable fistfight.

Via Flickr, Ninja M.