I love what Gawker has done with their masthead.
It may or may not be the result of trying to be innovative with their ad placements, but I like the end result regardless.
Also, I see that on some posts there is a traditional banner ad at the end of the content, which on mouse-over does an expansion, but not over actual content! These ads typically pay much more, but are the bane of readers in their usual spot as the expansion of the ad would typically cover the content a reader came to read. These, while still a bit prickly, are ‘done’ well in this spot. Again, a good break from the usual way of thinking.