sled, what do you see in the body column you don't see in the widgets? they're both just black squares. if anything i expected the copy to be too simple.
anyways, the more i've looked at this layout, the more it's bothered me. everything feels offset and i'm trying to mash 2 different ideas into each other.
i've put together what i consider a but more conservative arrangement in terms of layout, but i think overall the flow isn't disrupted the same way. i've also had some colour issues between various monitors concerning contrast.
http://creative.vectorthis.com/blog/blog3.jpg