diff --git a/doc-src/content/help/tutorials/best_practices.markdown b/doc-src/content/help/tutorials/best_practices.markdown
index 55f2fe04..4c472f7a 100644
--- a/doc-src/content/help/tutorials/best_practices.markdown
+++ b/doc-src/content/help/tutorials/best_practices.markdown
@@ -45,9 +45,8 @@ Then you can include this file in all other stylesheets:
     // etc.
 
 It is important to define any compass/framework constants that you want to override
-in base.scss first, before @import-ing the framework files. See [Overriding
-Constants][3] , for an example of where the number of grid columns for blueprint
-is overridden/set to 32.  Note that you can refer to `_base.scss` without the
+in base.scss first, before @import-ing the framework files. See [Working with 
+Configurable Variables][3], for a specific example.  Note that you can refer to `_base.scss` without the
 leading underscore and without the extension, since it is a [partial][1].
 
 ## Write your own Custom Mixins
@@ -110,6 +109,6 @@ selectors and let the document cascade work to your advantage.
 
 [1]: http://sass-lang.com/yardoc/file.SASS_REFERENCE.html#partials
 [2]: http://groups.google.com/group/compass-users/browse_frm/thread/0ed216d409476f88
-[3]: http://wiki.github.com/chriseppstein/compass/overriding-constants
+[3]: http://compass-style.org/help/tutorials/configurable-variables/
 [4]: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?DontRepeatYourself
 [5]: http://chriseppstein.github.com/blog/2009/09/20/why-stylesheet-abstraction-matters/
diff --git a/frameworks/compass/stylesheets/compass/typography/_vertical_rhythm.scss b/frameworks/compass/stylesheets/compass/typography/_vertical_rhythm.scss
index 79c15ec8..7fce4e37 100644
--- a/frameworks/compass/stylesheets/compass/typography/_vertical_rhythm.scss
+++ b/frameworks/compass/stylesheets/compass/typography/_vertical_rhythm.scss
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+@import "compass/layout/grid-background";
+
 // The base font size
 $base-font-size: 16px !default;
 
@@ -58,8 +60,14 @@ $base-half-leader: $base-leader / 2;
 }
 
 // Show a background image that can be used to debug your alignments.
-@mixin debug-vertical-alignment($img: 'underline.png') {
-  background: url($img);
+// include the $img argument if you would rather use your own image than the
+// Compass default gradient image.
+@mixin debug-vertical-alignment($img: false) {
+  @if $img {
+    background: image-url($img);
+  } @else {
+    @include baseline-grid-background($base-rhythm-unit);
+  }
 }
 
 // Adjust a block to have a different font size and leading to maintain the rhythm.