# The man who walked a tightrope between the WTC



## editor (Jun 17, 2008)

Phew. Now this took * balls of steel!*












There's a film coming out about the fella soon. Makes my knees go wobbly just looking at those photos.



> Shortly after 7:15 a.m., without hesitation, Petit stepped off the South Tower and onto his 3/4" 6x19 IWRC steel cable. The 24-year-old Petit made eight crossings between the still-unfinished towers, a quarter mile above the sidewalks of Manhattan, in an event that lasted about 45 minutes. During that time, in addition to walking, he sat on the wire, gave knee salute and, while lying on the wire, dialogued with a seagull circling above his head.
> 
> Port Authority Police Department Sgt. Charles Daniels, who was dispatched to the roof to bring Petit down, later reported his experience:
> 
> ...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Petit


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## editor (Jun 17, 2008)

How things have changed - here's his 'punishment' for the act:



> The immense news coverage and public appreciation of Petit's high wire walk resulted in all formal charges relating to his walk being dropped. The court did however "sentence" Petit to perform a show for the children of New York City, which Petit transformed into another high-wire walk, this time above the Belevedere Lake in New York's Central Park. Petit was also presented with a lifetime pass to the Twin Towers' Observation Deck by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. His signature was on a steel beam close to his departure.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jun 17, 2008)

How the fuck did the wind not knock him off!?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 18, 2008)

Was there a trampoline at the bottom and how far would he have been sprung if he landed on it and didn't go straight through?


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## DJ Squelch (Jun 18, 2008)

yeah, yeah, thats just what the New World Order want you to think. Its obviously a holograph to take peoples attention away from the explosives being planted.


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## Kanda (Jun 18, 2008)

DJ Squelch said:


> yeah, yeah, thats just what the New World Order want you to think. Its obviously a holograph to take peoples attention away from the explosives being planted.



This ^^


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## Lord Camomile (Jun 18, 2008)

> The 24-year-old Petit made eight crossings between the still-unfinished towers


 You'd think after the first time that'd be quite enough!

Maybe once more to go back and grab yer bag.


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## quimcunx (Jun 18, 2008)

A lot of balls is exactly what it did take.  If you can do that at 3' off the ground you can do it at that height, but even if I could do it at 3' I sooooooo wouldn't do it at that height.


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## DJ Squelch (Jun 18, 2008)

I always liked this bloke - Charles Blondin






"Blondin especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea of crossing the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1100 feet (335 m) long, 160 feet (50 m) above the water. This he accomplished, first on June 30, 1859, a number of times, always with different theatric variations: blindfold, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man (his manager, Harry Colcord) on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Blondin


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## 1927 (Jul 1, 2008)

Culture show BBC2 *NOW*!


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## El Jefe (Jul 1, 2008)

He did the best Desert Island Discs I ever heard...


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## Constellations (Jul 9, 2008)

nuuuuuuuts!!!!


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