To change the clock face on the clock sidebar gadget:
Hover your mouse over the clock face - see the little spanner - click on it.
The clock gadget controls popup and it's all pretty self explanatory from there on. There are 8 clock faces, the red one is number 6. I don't recommend the pink fluffy toy (8), unless you're a real girly girl. And the chronograph style is just that, a style, it does nothing else.
Incidentally - what's the problem with "airyplanes" as a desktop backdrop? I have a (THE) nice big Vulcan on mine, and use WebShots to rotate the backdrop so I don't get bored with it.