I also don't like the banners, but like you said, they're gonna be deleted. The Shoutbox is just garrish, right in top middle like that. Also, the little digital green counter is pretty unprofessional looking. If you're gonna use a counter, use the hack one that counts pageviews, or just get a better looking one =P
They're not bad (what do I know though, I'm a borderline vB moron

). lol, my sites initals are PG too =P