Travel (un)essentials for your next Jazeera journey

The Muppet Show
Everyone knows that squeaky-pitched, googly-eyed red monsters don’t exist in real life. But thanks to some awe-inspiring animatronics, this Elmo Live puppet almost had us checking for a pulse. He will mesmerise kids with his animated singing, dancing and realistic body movements. www.amazon.co.uk

Alphabet City
Rumours are rife that an A-Team movie starring Mel Gibson, Christian Bale and Jim Carrey will be shot in Dubai next year, so it’s worth buying one of these mini-vans before everyone in the emirate owns one. They’re remote controlled, so you can drive yours down the aisle of the plane while noisily humming the show’s explosive theme tune. www.firebox.com

The Flip Side
Making movies has never been easier. Flip Video is a high-quality camcorder crammed into a package the size of a mobile phone. It delivers an hour of recording time, a 3.8cm screen, online connectivity and a flipout USB cable. www.theflip.com

Strange Fruit
Discovered in West Africa in the 1960s, the miracle berry (yes, that’s its actual name) changes the way your taste buds interpret flavour. Eat a couple and you can happily devour whole lemons, green chillies or bottles of vinegar. Yum. www.miraclefruit.co.uk

Instant Success
In these halcyon days of newfangled technology, instant gratification is the norm. But before everyone got into such a rush, people would have to wait days to see their photographs – unless they were using a Polaroid camera. It’s good to see Polaroid still delivering the goods; the PoGo is a tiny inkless printer that connects to a camera or mobile phone’s USB and produces photo-quality images. www.polaroid.com/pogo

Persian Poetry Leila Arab was raised in Iran, moving to Britain after the 1979 revolution. As well as being Björk’s frequent collaborator, she’s released three solo records, the latest of which, Blood, Looms and Blooms, deliciously fuses downbeat trip-hop and jaunty synth-pop. www.leilamusic.co.uk
Novel Ideas The Road From Damascus is a funny, charming and intelligent debut novel that contemplates the role of Islam in the West. qunfuz.blogspot.com