For some time now, I've presumed that this display quirk was being caused by my combination of hardware/browser/connection speed. Imagine how relieved I was to discover that others are experiencing it too! I was even more pleasantly surprised to read that it even may not be a Microsoft bug...I kid you not!

Flash of Unstyled Content (FOUC): Some pages that use the CSS @import rule experience a curious display quirk in the Windows version of MS Internet Explorer: a momentary flash of unstyled page content. The unimaginative creature that I am, I call this phenomenon Flash of Unstyled Content or FOUC for short