Caught In The Net would never dare presume to speak for other people’s funeral arrangements, but when we go, we hereby grant permission for all and sundry to deck us out in as many jewels and trinkets as you wish! As you can see above, we think it beats a regular burial any day of the week. That gentleman is just one of the many ‘Catacomb Saints’, decayed skeletons of Christian martyrs whose diamond-encrusted remains were distributed across Europe as replacements for the countless holy relics which had been damaged, stolen or destroyed during the Protestant Reformation.

Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures And Spectacular Saints From The Catacombs, a new tome from art historian and self-confessed ‘relic hunter’ Paul Koudounaris (who, of course, has been dubbed ‘Indiana Bones’), is packed with similar incredible images. A painstaking exercise, Koudournaris travelled all over Europe in order to find and document the status of each Saint. We hope he got to keep a gem or two for his troubles. For more, check out cavemancircus.com/2013/09/07/400-year-old-jewel-encrusted-skeletons-unearthed-across-europe
On a somewhat less morbid but equally visually arresting note, the creative geniuses at The Glue Society (gluesociety.com) have introduced the world to an inspired new art moment known as “Moreing”, which is apparently achieved by utilising multiples of the same object in all kinds of colourful and abstract ways. It’s another home run for the Society, whose recent projects include a beachside melting ice cream truck. Yep. Check out “Moreing” in action at thisiscolossal.com/2013/09/glue-society-moreing
If such mind-bending imagery causes distress, you’ll want to unwind with the greatest stress relief toys we’ve ever seen – Tetris blocks! As seen on fancy.com/things/443784175045056349/Tetris-Stress-Blocks Just remember, when you’re sending away for yours, that delivery address should read: Caught In The Net @ Hot Press Magazine. Cheers! And if novelty old-school videogame accoutrements aren’t your bag, keep things modern with the iPad Foosball Table. It’s got to be seen to be believed… fancy.com/things/250907875843513713/iPad-Foosball-Table
Astonishing scenes on Instagram (no, not pictures of the food you’re about to eat – stop that, by the way) at instagram.com/mrpimpgoodgame where a magnificent gentleman (whose name we hope is, in fact, ‘Mr PimpGoodGame’) has uploaded hundreds upon hundreds of photos of himself making the exact same pose. It quickly becomes terrifying…
Finally, an eye-opening and disturbing insight into where your food comes from can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=X4G3mCYmAaI Taken from the mesmeric Samsara, the six-minute ‘Overconsumption’ video holds up a black mirror to a society that prioritises greed, profit and production over comfort, kindness and relief. Warning: It may put you off fast food (and uploading arty shots of it to the internet) for quite some time…