Arts & Entertainment Soul Search For more than 40 years, Jorma (pro- nounced Yorma) Kaukonen has brought his brilliant finger-picked fretwork and songwriting — a blend of rock, blues, folk and country influences — to legendary bands like Jefferson Airplane and its still active spin-off, Hot Tuna. The lead guitarist, now in his mid-60s, spends half his time touring the coun- try playing his music and the other half in Ohio at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. There, he and his wife operate the Fur Peace Ranch, a resort for guitar enthusiasts, where Kaukonen and an all- star faculty teach guitar in a small-group setting. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, Kaukonen travels to Michigan to perform at the Ark in Ann Arbor, where, in an acoustic salute to his recent album, Blue Country Heart, he will explore the roots of rock. In this debut recording for Columbia Records, Kaukonen turned to rural blues and country-flavored songs from the 1920s and 1930s, performing tunes by Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, Slim Smith and others. Opening the show will be Rob McNurlin. Jorma Kaukonen ws *rim 7412 w I Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Phony News Jon Stewart and others on Comedy Central have long done a satirical take on the news from a mostly lib- eral perspective. The conservative- leaning Fox News Channel has been a favorite target. Now, Fox News Channel strikes back. It is offering a "phony" Joel Surnow news show of its own, which satirizes news events and the media from a conser- vative perspective. Last Sunday, FNC aired the first episode of The 1/2 Hour News Hour. It will repeat this pilot episode 10 p.m. About 4•10 A recent article in the New Jersey Jewish Standard explored Kaukonen's somewhat exotic background. His mother, Beatrice Love, was Jewish; his father, Jorma Sr., was a non-Jewish Finn who worked for the FBI and later the State Department. Growing up in the nation's capital, the future musician spent much of his child- hood in places like the Philippines and Pakistan. His experiences with Judaism, noted the Standard, included lighting the menorah at Chanukah and snacking on his favorite cracker, matzah, but that was where his Jewish practice, and identity, ended. Ironically, the Standard reported, it was Kaukonen's Catholic-born wife, Vanessa, who launched Jorma's Jewish journey. The couple met in 1988 and mar- ried a few months later. Vanessa, a former civil engineer, began working for the band; though clean for at least a decade, Sunday, Feb. 25. The second episode will air 10 p.m. Sunday, March 4, and be repeated 10 p.m. Sunday, March 11. Only two episodes have been filmed; they are a test to see if there is a market for a "right-wing Daily Show." The creator of The 1/2 Hour News Hour is Detroit-born Joel Surnow, a Jewish producer most famous for co-creating and producing 24, the hit Fox TV action-adventure series. Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, founded in 1986 to honor films pro- duced outside the normal Hollywood studio financing system, are cleverly held just before the Academy Awards, which has brought a lot of attention to them. Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman, whose own self-titled series began on the Comedy Central channel a few weeks ago, is the host of this year's awards ceremony. It airs live 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, on cable's IFC (Independent Film Channel). It will be rebroadcast 10 p.m. the same night on AMC, which reaches a lot more house- Sarah holds than IFC. Silveman This is Silverman's second year hosting the Spirit Awards, and her very acerbic view of the world works well in the context of an award ceremony that is trying to project an avant-garde image (even though some Spirit nominees, like like many rock 'n' roll couples, both Jorma and Vanessa struggled with addiction. About four years ago, on a spiritual search, Vanessa began reading books on Judaism and questioned her Jewish friends about the faith. Things really began to change when she connected with Rabbi Danielle LeShaw, the rabbi at the Hillel of Ohio University, a nondenomi- national Hillel house that serves the com- munity around Athens, Ohio, where the Kaukonens live. Vanessa told the Standard that both she and Jorma had a "reaffirming moment" after seeing a Klezmer Mountain Boys' show at B'nai Sholom Congregation in Huntington, W.Va. When they returned home to Athens, the couple had Rabbi LeShaw, a Reconstructionist rabbi, draw up a conversion plan for Vanessa and a reaffirmation program for Jorma. Two- and-a-half years ago, they had their conversion and reaffirmation ceremonies. Last year, the couple, adopted a baby girl from China. Jorma says he "communicates with God on a daily basis, be it through prayer or something less formal. He has also been very open about his thoughts on Judaism and life as something of a born-again Jew. He regularly shares his musings on his online diary on his Web site, www.jormak- aukonen.com." Little Miss Sunshine, are also up for Oscars). Over And Out The O.C., the Fox TV show that once drew in scads of younger viewers, will end a four-year run and air its last episode 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Adam Brody, 27, who co-starred as the geeky-handsome, half-Jewish Seth Cohen character, has a bunch of films in the can that will be released to theaters this year. However, Rachel Bilson Rachel Bilson, 25, another O.C. star – and Brody's for- mer real-life girlfriend – seems to have much less lined up in the way of SOUTHFIrLD PAVILION ANTIQUES 85+ NATIONAL & REGIONAL MERCHANTS! FEBRUARY 23, 24 & 25, 2007 11":011t SOUTHFIELD rAviLION TIQUES EXPOSITION Southfield Municipal Complex Southfield, Michigan • Evergreen Rd at Civic Center Dr Friday 2 - 9 • Saturday 10 - 6 • Sunday 11 - 4 • Six Dollars C )kit_11 Lk. 101 411.1c 11.1ftV ... 46 February 22 • 2007 FEATURING AMERICAN, EUROPEAN, AFRICAN, ASIAN, ANTIQUES & ART SITION :2' • More Info • www.anticinet.com/M&M • 586-465-9441 1216220 JN