WEBVTT

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[music] The feeling I get when I\'m
flying is like, freedom really,

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kinda complete freedom. Um, I
feel like the kite is part

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of me. Um, almost like the line
is an extensions of my arms

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and my hands are kind of, actually the
kite. I kind of think it around the sky.

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And time stands still as
well, um, kind of lose

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track of time and consciousness of time. It

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feels very much like a third place,
that is, that its just me and the kite.

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The flying I do is always a performance because
it tends to be in front of the public,

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and crowds. It\'s, um, nearly always
to music. It\'s a ballet routine

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which is tightly choreographed.
Sometimes scripted and very preplanned.

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But other times very loose,
and, um, of the moment.

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The world record I hold is for flying a

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four-line kite, indoors
with no wind, for 4 hours

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44 minutes and 44 seconds, without touching the ground. I
guess when we get there, Uh-hmm. I\'m just going to have to

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um, find out which meeting room we\'re going
to. (crosstalk) My fulltime job involves

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being a PA to Rory Heap. Um, as
a blind consultant. God, bloody

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crowds. James and I have been working

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together for about two years now.
Um, and during

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that time we\'ve really built on our own experience
to make sure that when he\'s guiding me,

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for example, we move as
seamlessly as possible.

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He guides me really simply
by very, very subtle

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movements of his arm by either backwards
or forwards, or left to right.

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We\'re linked in a way um, I\'m
like the front end of a truck

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to the rear end of a truck in some ways.
So its all one, kinda all one entity. So I

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steer, um, and I, um, anticipate
what\'s coming next which is

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quite a few, kinda, crowds a people at the
moment. So I\'m gonna be filing Rory behind me

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in single file in a sec. Which is this, so I just drop
my elbow behind me and keep an eye on what\'s going

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on. I just, very much

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trust James\'s direction and, um,
automatically follow what he does.

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So if he just suddenly scratched his nose, I\'d jump up and
yell. And that\'s what tends to happen when people first

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work with me, they make really exaggerated movements
and I\'m going all over the place, trying to,

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cause I\'m used to responding to James.

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When James is working with me, guiding me,
it feels very, um, comfortable and smooth.

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But actually it\'s really clear that it involves a very
high level of skills. And the way he\'s able to move me

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seamlessly through very difficult environments
feels very much like being flown.

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I feel as if I\'m being flown by a
very skilled person, a very skilled

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pilot.

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I used to fly on a team called Aircraft.
And I fly with my brother in a pair

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called Evolver.

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We\'re currently getting
ready for the Bristol

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Kite Festival, which is a big
international, um, two day event.

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Um, with lots of different flyers from loads of different
countries. And, um, what we need to do is really

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fine tune a couple of routines and
spend a bit of time working on those

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before we go. We put routines together by

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firstly, um, choosing some music, and agreeing
on some music. Which is actually a long process

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in itself. Then once we agree
on that, uh, down to paper

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in a kind of notation form. Then once that\'s
done we might use our sticks. Which is kind of a

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model kite, quite literally, and with those
we get to work out what the wraps are.

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So we when the lines wrap around each other, where
and when. And from there we go out in the field.

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Break, break, break, break.

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Break, break, break, break. Break,

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break, break, break, break. Turn. The patterns that
we write, and the maneuvers that we write down

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is quite like a musical score. In that
its, uh, its sections, almost like

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to the bars if you like.

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Break, break, break, break.

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Break, break, break, break, break,

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break, break, break, break, break.
Big king diamonds. Ready,

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turn. And again. Break, break, break,

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break, break, break, break. Now. (crosstalk)
One, two, three. Break, break, break. Down,

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down. Hold it for three seconds.

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And now, OK.

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Thank you very much. Yeah, (crosstalk) yeah.
I\'ve always been interested in flying. Um,

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uh, things that fly. Ever since I can
remember really. I know I became interested

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in, uh, aircraft and aircraft recognition.
When I was really, really young, I used to get

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childishly excited about, uh, when airplanes
flew over. But I was always interested

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in which sorts of planes. And my dad would
always say that\'s a four engine bomber, or

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that\'s a airliner, or tell me about them.
Here we\'re between two flight paths

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Heathrow\'s landing westerly today. And there
are planes coming in from the northeast

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and from the southeast to join
in one common approach path

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about three miles west of us at Clappin(ph)
common. I find planes are a useful way

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of navigating. Um, in fact,
uh, just the other day

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I was at a conference in Canary Warf which is a confusing
place for anybody at the best of times. Nobody ever

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knows where they are or which side of the river their on.
Um, and there was a discussion going on about whether

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we were on the north or south side of the
river. And I happen to notice an A320

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air, airbus flying left to right past us, and I worked out that
it couldn\'t be going into city airport because they don\'t.

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So it must be going into Heathrow.
And they were simply to say

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well that\'s flying east west so we\'re on the north
side of the river. It\'s as simple as that. (inaudible)

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initial hydro (inaudible)

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in traffic. Do you wish to (inaudible)

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I\'m one of those nutty people, who,
um, has an air traffic control band

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radio. And, um, I like to know
what\'s happening. (inaudible)

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restriction (inaudible)

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on 270(inaudible)

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Where is that plane? Where
might that plane be going?

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What sort of aircraft is it? (inaudible)

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please sir.

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Its some, its almost voyeurism. Its
almost like looking into somebody else\'s

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world. And I know I\'ll never be able to accomplish. I\'ll
never be able to be a pilot. 630 miles per hour on that

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occasion. I think I asked James one
day whether he would be prepared to,

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um, let me have a go on one of his kites.
And I think I was quite, sort of,

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um, nervous about that. But he was actually very keen
and said yeah it would be really interesting to see

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if we could get you to, um, get enough feed
back from the kite to be able to fly it.

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Because it is a case of responding to
what the kites doing with the wind.

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I got Rory to fly this kite, which
is a northshore radical. Which is,

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um, a kite I used, um, for, most
of my team flying actually.

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Um, and the reason we\'re using this is cause the trailing edge, which
is this bit, is kind of loose. So when the kite flies it vibrates.

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Um, so you get a bit of noise. Which
is, um, easier for Rory to track

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in the sky. When I\'m flying the kite,
the, the, the feeling I get is,

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is, is one of a direct connection with something
that\'s flying. And its very emotional for me.

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Just the idea that, that what I do
affects something that is flying.

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And I kinda visualize it almost like
the perspex front, one of those

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bubble fronts on a helicopter, or something like
that. I see this, this area inside a perspex

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dome. That, that, that, that the
kites going to be flying in.

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And that helps me to think about where
I\'m going to need to put the kite within

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that hemisphere. I have control.

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There\'s where your tracking. Right,

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right hand Rory. You have control. I\'ve been
flying the kite with James, five or six

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times now. And I suppose my ambition
is to try and get to fly a repeated

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(crosstalk) figure of eight and keeping the kite in
the air for a decent length of time. And together.

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Now together, together, together.
And then right. Right lots.

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Keep, yeah, a bit more right.
And then together.

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Hold it there. A bit
left, and then together.

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And lots of right. Loads, loads.
And to, together.

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There, lots of left. I have control.

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Cool.

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I sort of, kind of regard airplanes as being the eight
wonder of the world. They shouldn\'t really work

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but they do.

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When you think about the weight of them, the
size of them, the power of them. They just,

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they just awesome. Even quiet little
civilian air crafts like this.

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Well not quite so little, but, um,
they they\'re quite amazing, and

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I, and but then when I think
about flying the kite like

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that\'s the nearest I can get
to flying anything else.

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Being in that other space that we don\'t
normally occupy. Being in the air,

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moving in three dimensions, we don\'t do that.
We\'re on the ground. We\'re stuck here.

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But people who fly things aren\'t.
And that includes flying

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kites.

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If I\'m able to fly the figure eight successfully, then
hopefully its going to open the door to me being able

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to fly the kite independently. I think
its quite likely that, for a long while

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I\'ll have to fly with, with others help.
But, ultimately I would love the idea

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that, I could go somewhere, and even if its
just flying a figure of eight for 10 minutes,

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I could just stand there and fly something. That
would be a fantastic thing to be able to do.

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When I\'m flying kites at night, I
realize that my senses are kind of,

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slightly re-prioritized by the fact that there is no
light, or very little light input into what I\'m doing.

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So, um, in daylight, um, I\'m relying
on my eyes, or I think I am.

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And then in the dark, I realize that I\'m not solely
relying on my eyes I\'m actually relying on the sense

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of touch and the physical relationship with the kite.
And that in turn has led me to question whether,

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um, it is your actually eye sight that drives you to
do what you do. Where I don\'t actually think it is.

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I think what your eye sight does is merely confirm other senses.
I think when people watch kites being flown, by whoever

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they are being flown by, but particularly by, by people
who are go at it. Then they think about the visuals.

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They think about the kite in the sky and the
things its doing, the way its moving. Um,

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but I think actually the way its physical experience and it
certainly is for me because I don\'t see all those visuals.

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And for me its very much about the
pull of the kite, the feedback

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I\'m getting from the kite lines,
what noises the kites making.

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What movements I\'ve got to make.(crosstalk)

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[music]

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Um, we\'re looking forward to, uh,
fantastic day of kite flying.

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We\'ve got some of the best kite flyers from
around the world gathered here for you

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this weekend. Today\'s the day we\'re going
to try and do the figure of eight.

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Hopefully its gonna, gonna to work today. I\'m feeling pretty optimistic
personally. The radios are quite simple walkie talkies really.

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Um, but it\'s going to allow me, if you want to,
um, to be at the kite end so I can talk to

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Rory and give him instructions
but from way down the field.

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And it has an earpiece. The
crowd behind us is, um,

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quite impressive so there are lots and lots of people
here. Um, which is really good to fly in front of.

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And, um, we\'re about to start flying. I
always feel a bit nervous when, he said, um,

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I always feel a bit nervous anyway because I enjoy it so much,
and I\'m always hoping that I\'m not going to break the kite.

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I\'m quite, uh, adrenalized I guess. Ladies
and Gentlemen, Carl and James Robertshaw.

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[music] (inaudible)

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all right and left a bit,

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and left more and correct, and right.

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[music]

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And right. Oh, sorry, my fault. (inaudible)

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(inaudible)

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On my part not yours. (inaudible)

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[music]

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And left a bit. (inaudible)

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and bring it back together yeah.

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If at first you don\'t succeed.

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[music]

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Left, and left, get it up.

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Now you gotta get it, get it back up.

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Give it up for Carl and James Robertshaw.

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Aw, a great performance from the brothers of over. I think
I do feel a little bit sad that the season is over,

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because I really miss almost the way of
life that it is. And it\'s quite exciting,

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and its quite tense in some
ways so, when that goes away

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it\'s kind of a anticlimax. But it
doesn\'t last too long. You know

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it\'s never that long before it comes
around again. We kept the kite in the sky

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for awhile anyway. But the uh,
the wind is a bit lumpy he said,

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making excuses. However, um,
I\'m gonna have another go

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anyway. Uh, see where we get to.
(inaudible)

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I just wondering if we shouldn\'t try,

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uh, me launch, you control the set
up the figure, and then I go for it.

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Yep that sounds good, alright,
uh, I\'ll come to that end then.

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Yep. It\'s frustrating at the moment,
can\'t keep it stable. (inaudible)

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alright, pull up, (inaudible)

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a few steps forward. Keep walking
forward, keep walking forward.

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Alright now, keep the figure eight slow.

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You\'ll scare the pants off the pigeons.

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Oooh now we have wind. Yes we do.
By god, right. Well,

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uh, I\'ll start us off. This is the kind of

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(inaudible)

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to the left, and correct,

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turn right. And

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left. Silent

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kite. Yeah, hold on to it for a second.

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OK over to you.

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And left.

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Left more, that\'s it.

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Hold that. Let me have control.

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(crosstalk)(inaudible)

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Do you want to have a go of it?

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Yeah. Alright, lets go up the middle

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the wind is really strong.
Over to you. That\'s it.

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Too far over. I\'ll take control.
Oh, oops. (inaudible)

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Yeah, the cross is getting
a bit strong I\'m thinking.

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You know. Alright, one more. Alright, I\'ll
go and set the kite up. Come up you bastard.

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(crosstalk)Take control.
Ok, I\'ve got control.

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I went to, the, uh, wrong side of the wind. Yeah,
its gonna drift around a bit then pick up.

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Oh, this is weird.

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Alright, I\'m gonna lead it your way.
Yep. Over to

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you. I think there is a relationship
between me being blind and my love of

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flying in particular, my love of flying
kites. The right hand side is way too tight

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again. Too tight? Yeah I think everybody\'s
fascinated in some way about flight.

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They\'ll either watch birds coming and going from their bird
tables. Or, you know, they get excited about going on holiday

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cause their going on a plane. I think it\'s an
extension of that. But in order to achieve it,

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I have to actually do something
in a different kind of way.

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That\'s much better. Oh! Oh!
That\'s alright, oh,

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I have control. It came back up again.
And let it come back round

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again. I believe I have learned a lot more
from Rory than he has from me. In the terms of

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the incite he\'s given me into his world if
you like. Specifically kind of sensitivity

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to sound, as apposed to relying
on, uh, just vision so.

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I\'m now able to concentrate on what I hear, and use
that as a sensory input and then confirm things

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
with my eyes. Rather just rely on my eyes. And I think that
is something that I\'ve had the privilege really to get access

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
to. Um, which is probably something
most people will never get to do.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
Its one of those days flying a kite you,
uh, you uh, start off with an ambition

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
and, you nearly get there. You know for me
it\'s the flying the kite that\'s important.

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Having ambition with what you
do with it is kind of long term

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
and secondary. I just really enjoyed flying the kite
while we\'ve been doing it. Yeah, I was gonna say

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
its not about some kind of, uh,... Yeah. flying seducing
thing. It\'s not, its not about triumphing over, over it,

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
over adversity. Its about enjoying what you do
and realizing that you\'ve still got stuff to do.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
Yeah, absolutely. Ah, it was a good day.
Yeah it was.(crosstalk)

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
and to be honest, I\'m kind of
glad it turned out like that.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:03.000
Yeah, me too. I still think. It could be more windy
today. Yeah, I still think I should be able to

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
do it though. Hmmm, yeah I recon that. I
think you\'ve always got to be independent.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:15.000
If we could just get a decent bloody constant
5 to 10. (crosstalk) it is... (inaudible)

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.000
[music]