When Alan Michaels signed off yet again from his morning duties at oldies format 1450 AM, he sounded like a man working very hard to maintain his composure while attempting to explain to an older demographic how they can listen to the COOL format, now banished to HD 2, piggybacking its signal on the heels of MIA 97.1 FM.

Michaels closed with "Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles, and for one of Tucson's most noteworthy radio voices, a long and winding road indeed it has been.

Michaels was a focal point of the hits-of-the-'50s-and-'60s format when it enjoyed far greater popularity a quarter-century ago. Michaels transitioned with the format from its highwater days on AM 790 to its FM signal position on 92.9, and about a decade ago during the format's downturn on 1450 AM.

He was fired during Clear Channel's massive cutback swath two years ago, then rehired in a part time capacity to handle the morning show on 1450. He'll stay on as the format transitions again.

On one hand, this makes Clear Channel the first cluster in the market to put a live voice on an HD piggyback signal. On the other hand, few people actually seem to really care about the HD piggyback signals, created a few years ago as a terrestrial-radio effort to compete with satellite radio's increased variety of formats. But the care in those HD piggyback signals has been minimal, at best, basically utilized for small niche formats operated by little more than a computer program. If anything, phone-ap options have probably rendered the technology all but obsolete.

Yet in an apparent effort to reach a bizarre compromise, Clear Channel Tucson has bumped the station with the oldest demographic in its cluster to a location that requires some technological understanding.

The new station format: Funny 1450 AM. How funny is Funny 1450? Well, after The Beatles had winded their final road, the station flipped to six minutes ... yes, six minutes ... of canned laughter, a torturously unfunny laugh track that sounded like the worst of parody morning radio, or an Adam Sandler routine. (I'd say a bad Adam Sandler routine, but that would be redundant.)

Oh, and there was intermittent burping during the laughing introduction. Because burping is funny.

Funny 1450 is basically an automated stand-up comedy format. Perhaps Clear Channel will get the last laugh if the effort gains traction.

Efforts to reach Clear Channel Tucson for comment have been so far unsuccessful. Perhaps that will change by next week's Media Watch.

Owner Terry Etherton discusses his gallery's latest show "Flesh Bone Spirit" and the timing of opening a show that discusses violence the day of the shootings.

We've been amiss in not covering the slowly unfolding session at the Arizona Legislature, but we're hoping to get back on track by next week.

In the meantime, here's the latest dispatch from Rep. Steve Farley, a Democrat who represents midtown Tucson. Our favorite part is a quote from Sen. Sylvia Allen of Snowflake: "We've got to preach to people to save up for their colonoscopy, to save up for their welfare visits, to put some money back into their lives and their own responsibilities for healthcare."

Howdy, Friends O'Farley…

First, I want to wish a huge Happy 21st Birthday to Daniel Hernandez, my campaign manager who is now rightfully celebrated around the world as the humble hero who helped to save Gabby Giffords' life.

If you are watching the State of the Union tonight, you will see that Daniel is spending his birthday sitting in the First Lady's box during what will surely be another emotional event for all of us. Support continues to pour in from everywhere for Tucson as we continue to recover. Just this week I received a wonderful package of drawings from a Mormon Sunday-school class of five-year-olds in Mesa sending their love to all of us.

I hear that, in addition to being recognized, Daniel will be hearing

While it's unlikely the feel-good-Democrats-and-Republicans-hanging-out-together vibe of last night's State of the Union is going to last for long, Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia's Tenth District kept it real last night. He wasn't going to be coerced into sitting next to someone like Dennis Kucinich. He'd rather watch the address from his office and livetweet opinions like these:

However, this morning a quick glance at Rep. Broun's page seems to show that the somewhat tense post has been deleted, but regardless, it's a little difficult to pull back a tweet when it's been retweeted or commented on thousands of times already. This whole incident sort of makes me a little nostalgic for last year when Joe Wilson had enough courage to just yell stuff from the audience, instead of tweeting from another room and then pretending it didn't happen.

[Officials Say]

Amita Gupta e-mailed me to share an article written for The Perspective, University High School's student-operated newspaper, on the high school years of Gabrielle Giffords and the late Gabe Zimmerman.

Gabe Zimmerman, as described by Dr. Hosmer, was “very gregarious, very funny, very witty.” Mr. Karlowicz also says that Zimmerman was a “kid with an interesting sense of humor. Whenever there was a zinger to be zung, he did.” Additionally, Dr. Hosmer notes Zimmerman’s popularity and charming personality. Voted as Most Likely to Hibernate through the Winter, he also played for the varsity soccer team. According to senior Leonard Knittel, the team plans to dedicate the rest of the soccer season to Zimmerman.

Read the article here.

From Lindy’s on Fourth’s Facebook page:

ok january 31st from 11am to 4pm the Food Network will be filming Meat and Potatoes for their second season .....so come on down and eat and get on tv because from 11-4 its all about you and the host and the food .....love you all and hope to see as many of you there as i can .... much love LINDY

UPDATE with playlist and download at bottom of post

Video games have reached a new high, or shall we say low, with a new collection of games in Tokyo that work on the power of urine.

• Illustration Ryn Gargulinski

As if that’s not enough strange stuff in the Land of the Rising Sun, a malicious monkey that bit more than 120 people last year before its capture is once again loose on Japanese streets.

Those stories and more are up this week on Rynski’s Shattered Reality radio show on Party934.com and FM 94.9 in Hudson Valley, N.Y.

Next show is Wednesday, Jan. 26 (today!) and every Wednesday online at Party934.com. Showtime is 1 p.m. in Arizona, 3 p.m. EST.

Party 934 is a radio alternative for listeners sick of stations that play one song followed by 500 commercials.

Songs that mention laughing or crying are up this week with a lineup that includes a gaggle of giggles and gently weeping guitars.

Thanks! to all who keep the song requests coming.

The two brothers who own and operate both local Vero Amore pizza restaurants are opening a new restaurant in Oro Valley called Noble Hops Gastropub.

If you’ve never heard of a gastropub, imagine your neighborhood bar, but a bit classier in both the atmosphere and food departments. The concept is massively popular in Europe and in larger cities across America.

Aric Mussman says Noble Hops Gastropub will serve 28 small-production beers on tap and 40 more in bottles. Some beers will be so rare that less than five kegs will ever make it into the country. The selection will rotate on a regular basis, and ceremonies will mark the tapping of especially notable kegs.

On the menu: American-style tapas, homemade pretzels served with made-from-scratch mustard, gourmet cheese plates and fish and chips made with Chilean sea bass breaded in panko crumbs. The menu hasn’t been finalized yet, but Mussman summed it up thusly: “We’re talking real food, no preservatives, everything made from really high-quality ingredients.”

Mussman said the same people who handled Janos Wilder’s Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails are handling the design and architecture. An indoor/outdoor bar boasting a view of the Catalina Mountains will seat 45. A lounge area out back will be outfitted with comfortable couches.

Noble Hops Gastropub is expected to open this spring.

1980s Pop queens Tiffany and Debbie Gibson star in the Syfy Channel original movie Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

When an animal activist and a park ranger face off, all hell breaks loose in the wild.

From the New York Times:

Doctors on Tuesday night upgraded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’s medical condition from serious to good, and announced they planned to move her from an intensive care unit to a rehabilitation hospital as early as Wednesday morning.

The upgrade in her condition was another sign of the “strong progress” Ms. Giffords has made since arriving at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston last Friday, the hospital said in a statement. Doctors at the hospital were slightly concerned over the weekend by fluid accumulation in Ms. Giffords’ brain, which delayed her transfer out of intensive care. But a procedure to remove the fluid led to some improvement.

The decision to upgrade her condition was made Tuesday night.

“Preparations are under way for her transfer to the rehabilitation hospital sometime tomorrow morning, pending review of her medical condition early in the morning,” the hospital said. They said they planned to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss her condition.