The new year brings a fresh start and hope for a chance of doing something amazing with our lives. Most of us have already failed in this and are back to bad habits looking at cat gifs. Here's the best of the week:

1. The Orthodox priesthood gets all hot and sweaty

On Tuesday, the Daily Mail was ablaze with the news that seven days into their stay in Britain, Romanians had found a new weapon: their priests were making nudey gay calendars. Of course, not exactly. While the Romanian Orthodox Church does take a keen interest in gay issues, descriptions of their activities usually involve the words 'anti' and 'rally'.

The people behind the calendar are Orthodox Voice, a group of young Romanians who want to show that 'Love is Love, Orthodox or not.' Hence the bums.

A preview is thankfully available:

2. Eurovision Watch Part 1: Belarus’s Robin Thicke is hungry for love 

What’s that? Yes, you’re right. It’s only 118 days until Eurovision. The spotlight will soon be on Copenhagen harbour, when 10,000 fans will pour into an abandoned ship yard to watch 35 countries fight it out against the current favourite, a bearded Austrian transvestite called Conchita.

Belarus has had a tough time in the contest. All too often, Belarusian president and aspirant dictator Aleksandr Lekashenko has been forced to personally replace acts he feels do not exhibit the true nature of Belarus, summed up in their 2011 entry: ’I love Belarus'.

Luckily, Belarus’s chances of winning have been boosted by the startling musical discovery of a homegrown Robin Thicke, Teo. Times are tough for Teo. Despite showing complete honesty to his (rather silent) object of affection, and admitting he’s not Patrick Swayze, he feels mistreated. Indeed, he’s tired of being her sweet cheesecake.

Why she ever wanted him to be her creepy hamster date in the first place remained unexplained. 

3.Cats of the week

As I crawled into the space underneath the stairs trying to rescue my irritated, dust-covered puss, I was struck by just how unphotogenic she looked, and considered it a blessing she’d never attempted an internet career. Luckily, these cats did. Third place goes to the cat whose owners may well value Buzzfeed above not bleaching animals placed in their care.

Second place: The cat still haunted by Christmas.

First place: Miley Cyrus strikes again.

4. Katrin's love of Varsity

The internet has a wonderful knack for bringing people together who might otherwise have no way or even reason to communicate. At the Varsity office, we were delighted to find that our readers in Australia had got in touch on our Facebook page to offer some constructive feedback.

Thanks Katrin, it's nice to know we're appreciated.

And finally,

If you didn’t get a chance to watch it over Christmas, or just want an excuse to watch it again, here is a video of Piers Morgan being repeatedly hit in the face by a cricket ball.