[jimsflies]

Looking good... if I may offer a couple items:

The header image...first I would set this as a background to the area using css. I prefer this method of loading in style elements (for seo, performance, etc.). Also, I believe doing that would fix the IE issue someone else mentioned because you would specify the height and width.

Also regarding the header image, I think it would look ultra slick if a gradient was applied to the edges to blend to your background on either side.

I logged in and saw the flashing forum icons... I'd be that could be done with css and no-image whatsoever and save a request or two. In fact, looking at other icons that could be replaced, I'd be you could get down to 35 requests on your home page for visitors.