There can be nothing better than a good boogie for the soul! I know – this remedy has transformed the blues into happiness so often I can’t even begin to count the number of times.

This strange beast of a dancing robot – ‘robosapien’ is like a comedy version of the wonderful ad for some crummy car. You know the one I mean (I am assuming an ad that expensive has been shown at least around Europe, if not the globe. I can’t remember what the crummy car is (so the ad isn’t working for me) – I have a feeling it may be a small French hatchback of the kind that will, inevitably fall into ‘bad hands’ because they lose value so quickly that they become the ‘17 and just passed my test’s ride of choice. You know – a cheap car that you can easily take off its standard parts and replace with what DM calls ‘aftermarket’ bits of fancy plastic designed to disguise the fact that it is no more or less than a crummy cheap car.

So, anyway, back to the ad – it’s what I think is called a ‘transformer’ – a car that transforms into a robot then does a dance! For anyone who has not experienced it, it’s excellent in a cheesy kind of way.

My two nephews do a brill copy of the dance and I dare say they could name the crummy car it’s trying to sell too so maybe the ad agency have a built-in ‘glaze over if you’re over 30’ switch because they don’t want old crones like me to think I’d like one.

Robosapien can do all sorts of things – some more charming than others. The wake-up routine that this is part of is extremely cute though the belching or breaking wind elsewhere (I can’t remember which of the two has been programmed to delight a small boy) is less than delightful.

This belongs to my sister’s eldest boy and it made me think of my sis’s ‘recipe for happiness’, which is:

2 maracas
1 Pair of Bare Feet
3-4 Glasses of VERY Expensive Red Wine
1 Brand New Sound System
1 Very Old and Incredibly Diverse Record Collection
2 Crazy Dogs

Method: Mix all ingredients together and dance round like a mad thing to however many fab tunes you can fit in between now and Monday. Leave to rest for 2 hours during the England match, and set the video recorder up for the GP on Sunday. Continue to dance, shake (maracas, that is) and sing for your life (and your country during the game)... after all there won't be anyone there to take embarrassing photos of you... will there?! (This was sent to me during the European Championships when England were playing one weekend when DM was away).

BTW – my Mum tells me that the car in the ad is a Citroen so if that ad agency has built in a ‘removal of crones’ switch then it’s malfunctioning!

Last year, things in my working life were bad......so the fact that I'm on holiday this year is cool!