Thai-rope walker

Tonight we joined Jaz & Mark for a yummy dinner of Tom Kha Gai soup , Massaman curry and sticky date pudding. Mark has been learning Thai cookery, and very fine it tasted too. And then we all went to the Civic to see 'Man On Wire', the film about French high-wire artist Philippe Petit who rose to fame when he took an illegal stroll between the two roofs of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City in 1974.

Some 100,000 people watched as 24-year-old Petit crossed eight times between the towers — some 135 feet/41m across, a quarter mile/400m above the Earth. After some six years of learning everything possible about the buildings, Petit spent about 45 minutes walking, running, dancing, hopping and even lying down on the wire, which was less than an inch/2.5cm across, and then descended into the arms of the police. His punishment was to give a free performance in Central Park. After, he received a lifetime pass to the observation deck of the South Tower.

The most asked question of Petit is "Why did he do it". He does not know. But he does say: "A bird would not be a bird if you saw it flying on a leash".

Man on Wire trailer