BABE Of The DAY - JENNIFER BEALS...

While JENNIFER leisurely reclines on the

sofa, I'm pushing the vacuum cleaner over the carpet,

hoovering up several biscuits I dropped when I walked

into the living-room and saw her lying there.  Now, the

domestic chores are usually Jen's area of expertise, but

she said I could join her on the sofa if I did it this

 once.  Well, it sounds like a good deal to me!

THIS YOU GOTTA SEE!

I noticed this clip on MARK EVANIER's blog a day or so ago, but skipped by it.  However, having now just watched it, I have to say that it's bloody brilliant!  CHRISTOPHER RICE, CLAY THOMSON, and lovely ELOISE KROPP pay spectacular toe-tapping tribute to the recently departed DEBBIE REYNOLDS in the 'GOOD MORNING' dance routine from SINGIN' In The RAIN.

All three performers are great, but you'll find it  hard to take your eyes off the cute one with the legs.  (And don't miss the blooper reel at the end.)

The MORE THINGS CHANGE...! Or: If I COULD TURN BACK TIME...

Train up a child in the way he should go, and

when he is old, he will not depart from it.

(Proverbs 22:6.)

Don't panic, I'm not about to preach to you, but the above verse has a remarkable degree of truth to it.  However, it doesn't just apply in the case of morality; it has other implications.  I'm talking about how impressionable we are as youngsters, to the extent that our early experiences shape our sense of how we expect things to be (that's how it seemed to me anyway) for the rest of our lives.  Not convinced?  Allow me to give you a few examples.

Currency for one.  I still think of £sd as 'real' money and view decimal coins as a recent introduction.  Bar codes on comics for another.  Although that wee box was introduced over 40 years ago and has graced the covers of the majority of comics I've ever bought, to me it still seems like a fairly new interloper (a squatter) that I'd be more than glad to see the back of.  Next is Jeremy Paxman, current host of University Challenge.  In two years time, he'll have been presenting the programme for 25 years, equalling his famous predecessor Bamber Gascoigne, the 'real' presenter in my opinion.

And how about Snickers, M&Ms, Oil of Olay, and various other items?  To me, they'll always be Marathon, Treets and Oil of Ulay (not that I use the last one, I hasten to add - despite perhaps needing to).  Doctor Who?  There'll only ever be one, and that's William Hartnell.  I could go on and on (and some of you no doubt fear that I will), but you get the point.  Our first experience of how things are in our early years becomes the template for how we feel things should be for our entire allotted span on this planet.

That's how I feel anyway.  No doubt there are exceptions to the rule, but what I've just outlined probably goes a long way in explaining why, in the main, I don't like change.  I have difficulty coming to terms with familiar things disappearing from my life; I hate it when trees get cut down, or lampposts or paving slabs are replaced, or when buildings are demolished, or fields where I played as a child are built on.  I want things (as I first knew them) to stay the same forever, and what's more, I want to be around forever to enjoy them for all eternity.

What about the rest of you?  Do you think I'm talking my usual load of old pants, or do you feel the same as I do on the matter?  Hey, I've got a great idea - why don't we put on a 'show' right here?  Okay, we'll do it in the comments section.  So, which one of you is up first?  Get typing.