France here we come

What news! No wonder it all went a teeny bit quiet on the superhero front. I was getting my hair done (Hi, Nicky!) when I picked up a Tweet from my favourite Superman saying that my heroes were going to invade France. After calling the international editor (you'd think he'd be grateful for the scoop, but he wasn't at all. At least I was thinking of him!) it turns out that the Heroes are going to be kitesurfing across the English channel. All the way to France!

This is still in aid of the HALO Trust. I asked if it was going to be as dangerous as crossing the Irish Sea and was assured that not only is the sea still treacherous but that you also run the risk of being blown off course and run over by a passenger ferry. So that's all right then.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

Today is Armistice Day. With poppies displayed we observed the two minutes of silence at 11 o'clock.

We remember those who fought in two World Wars. We also remember those who fought in other wars, and for those who fought - and are still fighting - to keep the peace.


Landmines kill serving British soldiers.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first female UK soldier to die in Afghanistan was killed when her land rover drove over a landmine. In June Thirty four soldiers had died this way so far out of 110. Since then 13 out of 17 deaths have been by landmines.

A soldier was killed by a "legacy" antipersonnel mine thought to be left over from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan 1979-1989.

Corporal Mark Wright was killed trying to help an injured colleague in a minefield and a helicopter triggered a mine.

The first British injuries in the Helmland province were caused by a landmine.

The US press says that landmines are the greatest danger to troops in Iraq. The BBC says that landmines are the greatest threat to troops in Afghanistan.

The landmine designer

I'm a super-big fan of new design. I'm always the first person you'll see wearing new season Jimmy Choo's, and I think the government should be funding the research and development of unsnaggable nylons.

This short film is about someone else who appreciates good design:
http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=3c35cf4e

Brrr! I almost mistook him for one of my smooth trendy designer chums. Thankfully they all work at companies selling nice things like shoes.

Clark Kent - stealing my reports!

Clark Kent has a report on the Heroes for Halo location shoot published on the Flexifoil website. I was VERY upset that not-quite-as-good-as-me reporter Clark had managed to steal a march on me - until I found out that it was actually the divine Martyn Hogg who was a true Superman on the shoot and got us some of the most amazing footage, and who is no way a nerdy wimp with bad glasses.

Martyn, darling, if you want to be Clark I can show you the ropes. You do have my number, don't you?

Thank you, Flexifoil, for saying nice things about Heroes for Halo.

Photos from Heroes for Halo filming session

Lois here. Oh, you lucky people! Thanks to my industry contacts (the lovely and talented Rachel Hastilow) I can share with you the most amazing photographs from the Heroes for Halo shoot. Feel free to share and distribute, putting 'Heroes for Halo' in the file name where possible and also in the caption, link back to http://www.heroesforhalo.co.uk/ plus of course crediting Rachel where possible. Let's see these photos get the recognition they deserve!

Behind the scenes - a sneak peek at filming

Being a friend to the stars when there is filming I get to hang around on set and see what really goes on. I thought I'd share this tidbit with you.

Superhero Sunday - Batman begins

Wouldn't you know it? You agree to help raise funds for a good cause and before you know it you're standing in the middle of the street in a super hero costume with a kite board tucked under one arm on a wet Sunday afternoon at least two miles from the sea. Then, just in case you weren't feeling self concious yet, along comes someone you know.




Of course, it's not a problem if they're a kite surfer.

Disaster strikes!

Gale force 8 winds meant that kite surfing was too dangerous so filming on Saturday afternoon for the Heroes for Halo video was cut rather short. A reduced crew were intending to film the off-water scenes on Sunday. By the time I'd finished my continental and read my complementary copy of the Daily Planet the superheros had been getting themselves into all sorts of trouble.





Having heard the sad story of the lost board I remembered I am an intrepid reporter and braved the sea wall to record the terrible weather conditions.







Thankfully, Batman aka Stuart Bruce aka "other Stu" squeezed the loan of a new board out of yet another of his contacts. Stu is pictured here with Bat-baby Callum.

Squeee! So cute! And little Callum is just adorable.

Location filming - not for wimps

Lois here, giving you the inside track on the Heroes for Halo shoot.

The location was Shoreham-by-Sea beach. If anyone had told me it wasn't going to be like the beach at St Tropez with the nice walkways and the waiters ready to carry one to a sunbed I would have worn my Cath Kidson wellies. In fact, not only was it not a lovely sandy beach, but the wind was horrendous - I was a second away from losing my Philip Treacy! I whipped out my trusty handy cam to take some shots of the kite riders, who didn't seem to mind braving the elements.



I found darling Dr Stu, who does my botox for me, all dressed up in his superman costume and ready to go out on the water. After the usual round of mwah-mwah air kissing he introduced me to Michelangelo, the creative director for the project and they updated me.



It was all so exciting!

I need a hero!

Lois here, filling you in on some breaking news.

I got the scoop that some daredevils were going to break the world kite surfing record and raise £100k for a charity in the process. I think it's important for renowned reporters such as me to support good causes, especially good-looking ones in tight wetsuits, so I trotted off to see their training session.

I rocked up to a teeny little café in Shoreham-by-Sea (and let me tell you that it’s a myth that you can’t get a decent cappuccino outside the M25). Inside was a marvellous mix of Londoners getting their caffeine fix:

and a set of active kite surfer types who were having a healthy breakfast after early morning boarding action.

I was introduced to (in efficient alphabetical order): Andrew, Andrew, David, Hugh, James, Jez, John, John, Kevin, Liz, Lynette, Martyn, Melinda, Mike, Natasha, Rachel, Stuart, Stuart, and Susanne who were all lovely and deserve a big hello (apart from the awful woman who wouldn't let me have my second espresso until I'd signed her permission form!)

I was having a lovely chat with another media person; a nice man from Extreme Facilities who, like me, has worked for big media players such as CNN, the BBC and Ant & Dec. We were getting along like a house on fire until the bossy woman with the clipboard told me it was time to go to the beach. A post on that to follow.