I like the new look. I think you achieved what you were after. It is much less obtrusive, yet you still worked in you graphics of the site name and squirt gun dude.
I like the idea, but you’ve got to fix the blue text over the black bar. The bar is not wide enough to acommodate the words… and the shadow is busted at the top and bottom. If you want, I can send you a fixed version. But like I said, I like it… more room for reading.
Ah, I see, It’s difficult to read. The transition between the black and the wite with blue text is hard on the old eyes. The shadow is still broken at the top and bottom edges of the text.