Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins; 105; Sarasota Rockers, Sarasota Skullers Youth Rowing Program, Bill Buchman, Jim and Laura Banky's airplane tours

Is. A special presentation of WMD you Tampa-St. Petersburg Sarasota. Remember when the word Rocker did not refer to a tattooed musician was a man trying to bring back the real. Is another man very smart jazz and is a rascal but. Two ways to travel one sleek and graceful sounds the other fashion fun in this volume of a gold. Coast Journal. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gold Coast Community Foundation of Venice envisioning a region known for endowed philanthropy a vital non-profit community and the ability to address emerging issues. Dear Journal this month on the Gulf Coast we celebrate classics

like this old classic swing bridge in Osprey. Now. I'll confess that when I first heard the name Sarasota rockers I figured it was a new local band and now it is one man who's self-appointed mission is to breathe new life into a classic piece of furniture. The rocking chair. For centuries it has comforted us adorned our porches as kids we heard nursery rhymes and bedtime stories in rocking chairs. Comverse wants to see rockers emerge from simple seeding to studying sculpture. What makes one of your chairs so special. First of course it's the aesthetic. It's the it's it's how it appeals to your eyes. When you walk into a room and you look across the room it's the first thing that you see. But seeing from afar is not enough. You have to touch it again and feel its soul to understand why it goes

against the grain of any ordinary rocker. And one of the reasons that I believe that many people find my chair is very attractive is that there isn't a flat piece of wood in this chair. And believe it or not there are. Between 85 and 100 pieces of wood in each one of these chairs. Woodworking wasn't always a full time vocation for Parker. His past is strewn with professions as varied as his chairs. I spent a number of years raising venture capital for high tech startup startup companies mostly in the computer field. After venture capitalist he became magazine publisher commercial ships captain. But none of these really satisfied when I turn off the lights in the office at the end of the day and walk out the door. I had nothing to show or see or touch for what I had spent my whole day doing.

Through each career change woodworking remained constant in his life. Then a book by the Stradivari of seatings Sam Maloof inspired me on the cover of this book is one of his Brocken genes which was one of the most beautiful things I ever seen. Some day I am going to make beautiful chair. He bought a few boards of ash with. The idea of chair making more daunting than he had imagined. No matter how hard I try I could not see a chair in those parts. A brief apprenticeship with Virginia chair maker Hal Taylor helped build his confidence and he shared very free with all his knowledge his template. What a wonderful. And he just believes that the world would be a better place for more rocketry by now. Parker has honed his own style of sculpture seeding each one of these back races is actually made of four different pieces of wood.

These back braces are designed to turn freely in their hole and then they will bend just a little bit just enough to softly cradle you like a fine shoot each cherrish hand tailored to the client's personal measurements. Seeding is is a very complicated thing. You can change proportions just half an inch here a quarter of an inch there and suddenly have a not very comfortable chair. It's a fairly exact science. Mesh the client's personality is added to the mix. What kind of a person are their real laid back do they want to be tilted way back in their chair. Are they a little more conservative than they might want to be a bit more upright. All those things I do factor in when I make a chair. And as each chair takes shape so does its personality. You name each of your chairs. How does that happen. Some of them are quite sweet and easy to work with. Others are difficult and challenging other chairs remind me of

old girlfriends of my chairs. Some of them are regal and stately lace with a chair I built for a client in New Mexico a while back. It's. Clearly a Victorian. Costing five to seven thousand dollars. These gals are substantially pricier than machine made models. People are often surprised the price but then they sit around and look on their face is priceless and they go oh now I understand. Chad re-offer always fancied himself as a spendthrift until he fell for an Australian lace would make Audrey. First it was really drawn to the wood. It's very beautiful I've never quite seen anything like it in terms of the texture and the colour of the wood. And then I sat in the chair.

It was love at first seat is almost like a piece of art. And I think as much as the function of a chair and a rocking chair it's also I think something that's very nice to look at. There's a statics and there's comfort in a rigid wooden chair. I don't think there's anything more comfortable out there. And so Parker has created his own storybook sort. One rather like the countless fables told in traditional rocking chairs. Once upon a time far from the corporate board room lived a man who found happiness in. A dusty. Board. Room. And now when I walk out the door. I look back over my shoulder I can see something that I think is extraordinarily beautiful that I created with my hands. It's going to be around long after I'm gone. And that gives me a really wonderful feeling. From a distance. It is the most beautiful and most graceful sight. These

sleek shells gliding across the water course up close. It is tough demanding back bending work. A classic sport. There's something in the water in Australia something quite refreshing. Three hours a day five days a week almost year round. You can find a group of teens out on the Intracoastal who aren't afraid to think outside the golf course. Dive teams are willing to give 100 percent to a sport that runs on human so when. They really sport. Get out. They force it out. Together they form the Sarasota Scudder's youth rowing program we split leading the way our two energetic turn coaches race shows

the former Romanian Olympic team rower coach Drago's Alexandru beach. The girls have retired Navy commander coach Joe Dobson mans the home of the boys team. You guys load. Is one of the tougher coaches I've had. He demands performance and focus the whole time we're here on. The team participate in a style of crew called sweep rowing where each athlete handles a single or everybody is part of a team. And you have to blend together in a. Way that. It. Really is rowing in unity. With each other. If you do one thing which is out of concert with everybody else you slow down. Spend some time with this team and you quickly learn that rowing is more than a redundant motion of mechanics. It's a mere quirk of simple. Physics. For three.

Or four. Sculling is graceful performance art. Of fiberglass and 1:56. Coordination and compromise. And these type of lessons you learned in life that you can work harder and you are going to fail. And if you do fail it's the journey that's important. Hard drive like perseverance is. Very important quality because sometimes you don't have the best people or the best equipment but you still to make the most of it. Good morning. How I you today. Barely survived this long. Combining varying body sizes and strength is a floating mathematical equation is central to the boats. Speed is the delicate balance of each team mates performance and position.

Starting with the stern pair but they are almost the most technically proficient and rhythmically consistent pair. And then in the middle of both you puts a really big people. OK. Or call the engine room or boiler room. Their job is just to crank up all the power. There are another set of rowers that are really technically proficient. They are important because those are the first force that goes through the water goes through the air and when they want to be very very smooth and consistent in how they do the job. I'm talking about but the person who wields the most power and the boat moves it by mouth not muscle. This miniature motivator is. Coxon is a person who is basically the captain of the ship. She or he is a really small person there because he wait a little bit but they are telling him all the big strong huffing and puffing people that are huffing and puffing and doing hard enough. And toxins can be well cocky.

In my job. All that really small and they complain that it's hard for me to deal with is going to sit there and don't do any physical work fine. I have a power 15 years old these girls are seniors in high school going off to college next year. He's done a great job right. Ultimately the symbiotic relationship between Coxon and or MH pays off during crunch time for. A good coxing is worth a length 60 feet in a race and then most races are decided within a lot less than that. So a good coxing can be the difference between victory and defeat. The difference between victory and defeat is also measured in the amount of commitment each member gets. It takes a kid who's willing to put out a lot of effort. A person who is selfless who's willing to dedicate himself to the team. There are no stars in rowing don't march on me.

Don't you know. Look up pop up right here. You know I come here every day for my buddies. I don't come here for me I come here for my friends so that they can come out on the lighter and they can do out in the rain. I'll start making some team members say they've tried more traditional sports but were swept up in rowing for reasons other than just friendly competition. For the valuable life lesson which they bring from shell to shore. You need to balance your school work if you have worked everything with coming here for like two or three hours a day. Before I joined you I had a lot of kids grades went up on its own. And that's two. For. One. In five years. I've had a 3.2 GPA so let's helping these people learn how to take care of each other. Again be part of a team and develop those values which will carry them on for the rest of their lives and business and other pursuits.

Then I go into. The Sarasota scullers welcome all kids who have a thirst for Erde work challenges and discipline as parents desperately ponder ways to get their kids to lose more more from their fingertips. Coach Joe says the answer is really quite simple. Just. Add. Water. You need about. Perfect. Synchronicity. Very. Let's combine a couple of classics. Or better yet let's let a multi-talented fellow here on the Gulf Coast combine them as he does so appealingly. The art of jazz and the jazz of our. Bill. Bachmann. Is an artist. Bill Buchmann is many artist in one. He is an abstract painter. A teacher of art a poet and quite an accomplished jazz musician.

For me making my paintings is no different than. When I played piano. Really it's a similar type of acting was different. Technical movements but it's all about creating music. Which is the. Same. Mood of harmony interaction and perhaps. Various conflicting. Emotions sounds sites. That have to somehow find a way to exist together and harmony. Fills formative years were the 50s and 60s at home his mother Natalie encouraged his creativity. My mom. Used to take me to the museums in New York we lived in upstate New York and we used to go regularly to New York particularly the Museum of Modern Art. Another key influence upon him was a major movement in the world of art. That was a time when American Art was actually really hitting the

screen worldwide. And actually I just drop it on there. And it was the moment when it was all happening in American art the abstract expressionist movement Bill's artistic foundation was built by teachers. Victor DAmico of New York's Museum of Modern Art and Fletcher Martin he was just a top top skilled artist and teacher and he happened to teach in the Institute of Art. And my mother was studying with him and my interest was so strong. So then I started taking classes and then when I was about 16 and he got me started on the absolutely right foot right from the beginning. Seeking a more stimulating environment Bill moved to Europe in the early 1980s. Copenhagen became his home immersed in a culture steeped in the arts. His paintings became highly prized and are currently displayed in galleries in Copenhagen and Sarasota and New York. It really enriched me. More than I could ever imagine and gave me a very

firm foundation on which to develop my own art. Not to mention it was also a lot of fun and and very beautiful. For the last three years Bill Buchman is called Sarasota home. He conducts art workshops at the Longboat Key Center for the arts and is on the faculty of the Ringling School of Art and designs Continuing Studies Program. He enjoys sharing his knowledge with students of all skill levels. Sometimes the most amazing experiences are with students with the least experience and least knowledge and familiarity with it. They sometimes do the best. A lot of it is about breaking down preconceptions. And I love breaking down preconceptions. So it's a great fun process to go through that to get. In yet another form of expression. Bill uses words to illustrate his thoughts. He has published a book of poetry and in doing so tapped into a profound discovery and ended up informing all me all that I do with music

and painting because it turns out. That poetry is really the essence of art. Providing a constant theme through all of his artistic expressions his music. Jazz. Bill give solo performances in Sarasota and also plays with Bill Buchman of jazz All-Stars. They gave me an opportunity unexpectedly. To put together a wonderful group and. Simply get. The finest drummer and bass back around. Interestingly my drummer someone I played with 25 years ago in Cape Cod who turned out to be living in the area as Frank Shea. My bass player name was Kenny Fitzgerald. And. They both. Just. Wonderfully experienced. Musicians too. Having my group. Trained at the New England Conservatory of Music fills early days as a professional musician were highlighted by working alongside jazz greats. Red calendar's Sammy Remington.

Allen Dawson and drummer Joe Jones to say that Joe Johns was a master musician would be just to be saying a gross understatement. He was a sublime drummer and every time he touched the drums the music came totally alive. Bill is a devoted student of jazz. His personal record collection attest to that he has produced now his own CD called out of the blue. It's getting some good reviews and steady play on jazz stations around the country. Everyone. Just seems to love this CD so I've decided I love it too and it seemed to encapsulate I think all those experiences of those years in Europe and my development. And. So now I'm basically thinking about what I'm going to do for the next year. Whether in painting in poetry or on piano. Or the true artist that's always the question. What's.

Next. Finally in this volume of Gulf Coast journal devoted to classics How about a classic way to fly. Any pilot will tell you there's something liberating about flying a small plane. Just use the plane and. All that space. And if that small plane happens to be a biplane with an open cockpit. That's not just liberating. That's. Hillary. Anyone can experience that kind of exhilaration any time in season. By getting in touch with Jim and Lorna Banki and they're beautiful Carolina bell. Florida headquarters with their finger lakes aero plane tours is easy to find it's

the picnic table beneath the palm trees at Venice airport. I'll put down for. My. Team. Down for a ride in the Vintage 1942 Wako UPDF seven. So it's cold. This is the plane featured in the movie Divine Secrets of the Ya ya sister. What made you decide to buy the Carolina bel. I love to fly. But the other thing is I love taking people up and say I have never experienced flying or you know a little bit apprehensive when they come back and they absolutely love it because it's a real different experience to me in an open cockpit plane. Around here everybody knows it is the Red Baron but actually the Red Baron flew a tri plane. But because it's red and because it's got two wings and everybody's calling me the Red Baron one woman that sticks in my mind real well she was actually shaking.

She was so nervous to go no more than lift it up over the trees and it was a nice smooth day and she just said oh my god this is beautiful. And she was just smiling the whole way around and it's a magical old airplane and this puts a smile on her face. And we called Tawakul Gran. When we got back and ice shut the plane off and I asked her I said so did you enjoy it. And she said well let me put it this way. Do I have to get out. No aircraft dual fuel used pulmonary training to pilots in World War 2. They were lightweight easy to fly. Well most people know a lot of the structure of. The main body of the aircraft is steel tubing somewhat like a race chassis. And what makes the shape of it are called warmers. It's called seeking. And it's like a green polyester type. It's basically put on there with glue loose and it's shrunk down with a caliper to. Get. It.

That tight on the keys. And it's also very strong. You can see the structure of such a plane in these restoration photos of a wacko f7. This is the same plane that Jim flies today. The Carolina Bell totally restored from the ground up in 1976. There are only about 150 of these left today. So you don't get many chances to fly in one. Jim GIBBS The Carolina Bell his standard very thorough check out. And then so are you ready to go flying ready and eager captain. OK. Very good. Nothing. Are. You ready to go for a flight. While taxiing. Jim in the back seat. Can't see over the front end. So yes keep turning this way and that visibility.

Takes off easily. Cruises at about 90 which from the ground may look like nothing. But in the front seat with a 90 mile an hour wind. Which. Is quite an experience. It's like riding a motorcycle in the sky. The only thing that's black in your view is the struts in the fuel lines. You have a clear view out the sides of the scenery going by wind in your hair and the sound of the engine just quite throaty. It's kind of surreal. Yes. We head out over the Gulf up past the Venice jetties I'm until looking down we see the waterfront homes of Kishi key. Wow. No doubt a few people on Casey keep looking up. Josh.. We fly north as far as midnight passed before wheeling around to head back home

again. You don't have enough time to take it all in. But in that brief 20 minutes or so you get a feeling that you get in no other kind of flooding. Here. You can literally reach out. So you feel that you can almost be abounding beauty of the Gulf. But I did have to get out of there as we have to get out of here now. We'll open a new volume of the Gulf Coast Journal next month hope you'll be with us in the meantime and some beautiful glimpses from Shelby garden. You can order this or any other volume of a Gulf Coast journal with Jack Perkins on a high

quality DVD format for just 1999 plus shipping and handling. Call 1 800 3 5 4 9 3 3 8. Or visit our Web site at W. This w E-D you production has been exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and then is envisioning a region known for endowed philanthropy a vital non-profit community. And the ability to address emerging issues.