Jquery.cycle.all.2.72.js returns cycleH and cycleW as 0 in IE8 when used - postition:absolute

Jquery.cycle.all.2.72.js returns cycleH and cycleW as 0 in IE8 when used - postition:absolute

Hi, 

 I am using Jquery to cycle thru different pages. Recently introduced Z-index and position:absolute to layer the images. Since then on IE, the slide blacks out and shows up again. It works fine on Firefox and Chrome though.
 
 When debugged further, we figured with Z-index, cycleH and cycleW was set to Zero on IE8. IE team mentions this is root cause for the behavior we r seeing.
 
 Could someone suggest a workaround i could use to get around this. I am fine with hard coding cycleH (433) and cycleW (636) also, just that i dont know where to do that.
 
 I am attaching original htm file with Z-index and without Z-index and js i am using (They are in .txt extension, please remove that to see the original files)

 Actual site: http://travelling-monk.com , please look at: "News" section. It blanks out and reloads again.

 

Regards,

Pranathi.