GIF as placeholder until SWF loads? Via Java, maybe?

Hi all, this is my site thus far (under construction):

http://www.mark-stuckert.net

I was wondering – is there a way (possibly via Javascript) to have a GIF hold the place of that [SIZE=1]TINY[/SIZE] SWF file until it loads? I tried a swap thing, but that only seems to work with another GIF. The load’s not unbearable, but I was just thinking if I had that opening image on the SWF as a GIF loaded until the movie loads, it would be just a little more seamless. That, and I would probably use that approach in the future. Any advice would be appreciated.

If this has already been addressed, I apologize. And … [SIZE=1]Please give me the link to that particular thread![/SIZE]

Thanks,
Mark(decisionman)
:hoser: