Spry Menu Bar disappears absolute position

Question

Hello all this is my first time posting on this site so bear with me. I have a semi-transperant spry menu bar that i inserted into the header div, over an image. I moved the menu bar -38px, when the position is set to relative the menu bar is visible, however the old position of the menu bar has a blank white space there. I think this is due to the relative position property. When i change it to absolute the whole menu bar disappears? http://www.brightlikethesun.com/index2.html (the position is back to relative to show the menu bar and also background for header is blue to show the space) 
CSS
/* SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css - version 0.6 - Spry Pre-Release 1.6.1 */
/* Copyright (c) 2006. Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. */
LAYOUT INFORMATION: describes box model, positioning, z-order
/* The outermost container of the Menu Bar, an auto width box with no margin or padding */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
width: 100%;
margin: auto;
position: relative;
top: -38px;
font-family: "Lucida Console", Monaco, monospace;
opacity: 0.7;
filter: alpha(opacity=60); /* For IE8 and earlier */
margin-right: auto;
margin-left: auto;
/* Set the active Menu Bar with this class, currently setting z-index to accomodate IE rendering bug: http://therealcrisp.xs4all.nl/meuk/IE-zindexbug.html */
ul.MenuBarActive
z-index: 1000;
/* Menu item containers, position children relative to this container and are a fixed width */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
font-size: 100%;
position: relative;
text-align: left;
cursor: pointer;
width: 20%;
float: left;
/* Submenus should appear below their parent (top: 0) with a higher z-index, but they are initially off the left side of the screen (-1000em) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style-type: none;
font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 70%;
z-index: 1020;
cursor: default;
width: 50em;
position: absolute;
left: -1000em;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to auto so it comes onto the screen below its parent menu item */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
left: auto;
/* Menu item containers are same fixed width as parent */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li
width: 50em;
/* Submenus should appear slightly overlapping to the right (95%) and up (-5%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul ul
position: absolute;
margin: -5% 0 0 95%;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to 0 so it comes onto the screen */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
left: auto;
top: 0;
DESIGN INFORMATION: describes color scheme, borders, fonts
/* Submenu containers have borders on all sides */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
border: 1px solid #CCC;
/* Menu items are a light gray block with padding and no text decoration */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
display: block;
cursor: pointer;
background-color: #EEE;
padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
color: #C0C0C0;
text-decoration: none;
background: rgba(98, 135, 167, .4)
background: #45484d; /* Old browsers */
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, #45484d 0%, #000000 50%); /* FF3.6+ */
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#45484d), color-stop(100%,#000000)); /* Chrome,Safari4+ */
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, #45484d 0%,#000000 100%); /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */
background: -o-linear-gradient(top, #45484d 0%,#000000 50%); /* Opera 11.10+ */
background: -ms-linear-gradient(top, #45484d 0%,#000000 50%); /* IE10+ */
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #45484d 0%,#000000 50%); /* W3C */
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#45484d', endColorstr='#000000',GradientType=0 ); /* IE6-9 */
/* Menu items that have mouse over or focus have a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
background-color: #33C;
color: #FFF;
background: #7d7e7d; /* Old browsers */
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  #7d7e7d 0%, #0e0e0e 50%); /* FF3.6+ */
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#7d7e7d), color-stop(100%,#0e0e0e)); /* Chrome,Safari4+ */
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  #7d7e7d 0%,#0e0e0e 50%); /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */
background: -o-linear-gradient(top,  #7d7e7d 0%,#0e0e0e 50%); /* Opera 11.10+ */
background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  #7d7e7d 0%,#0e0e0e 50%); /* IE10+ */
background: linear-gradient(to bottom,  #7d7e7d 0%,#0e0e0e 50%); /* W3C */
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#7d7e7d', endColorstr='#0e0e0e',GradientType=0 ); /* IE6-9 */
BROWSER HACKS: the hacks below should not be changed unless you are an expert
/* HACK FOR IE: to make sure the sub menus show above form controls, we underlay each submenu with an iframe */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal iframe
position: absolute;
z-index: 1010;
filter:alpha(opacity:0.1);
/* HACK FOR IE: to stabilize appearance of menu items; the slash in float is to keep IE 5.0 from parsing */
@media screen, projection
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li.MenuBarItemIE
  display: inline;
  f\loat: left;
  background: #FFF;
html 
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Bright Like The Sun -- San Antonio, TX</title>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
body {
font: 100%/1.4 Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
background-color: #000000;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
color: #000;
background-image: url(background.jpg);
/* ~~ Element/tag selectors ~~ */
ul, ol, dl { /* Due to variations between browsers, it's best practices to zero padding and margin on lists. For consistency, you can either specify the amounts you want here, or on the list items (LI, DT, DD) they contain. Remember that what you do here will cascade to the .nav list unless you write a more specific selector. */
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p {
margin-top: 0;  /* removing the top margin gets around an issue where margins can escape from their containing div. The remaining bottom margin will hold it away from any elements that follow. */
padding-right: 15px;
padding-left: 5px; /* adding the padding to the sides of the elements within the divs, instead of the divs themselves, gets rid of any box model math. A nested div with side padding can also be used as an alternate method. */
font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;
color: #000;
a img { /* this selector removes the default blue border displayed in some browsers around an image when it is surrounded by a link */
border: none;
/* ~~ Styling for your site's links must remain in this order - including the group of selectors that create the hover effect. ~~ */
a:link {
color:#414958;
text-decoration: underline; /* unless you style your links to look extremely unique, it's best to provide underlines for quick visual identification */
a:visited {
color: #4E5869;
text-decoration: underline;
a:hover, a:active, a:focus { /* this group of selectors will give a keyboard navigator the same hover experience as the person using a mouse. */
text-decoration: none;
/* ~~ this container surrounds all other divs giving them their percentage-based width ~~ */
.container {
width: 80%;
max-width: 1260px;/* a max-width may be desirable to keep this layout from getting too wide on a large monitor. This keeps line length more readable. IE6 does not respect this declaration. */
min-width: 780px;/* a min-width may be desirable to keep this layout from getting too narrow. This keeps line length more readable in the side columns. IE6 does not respect this declaration. */
background-color: #FFF;
margin: 0 auto; /* the auto value on the sides, coupled with the width, centers the layout. It is not needed if you set the .container's width to 100%. */
/* ~~ the header is not given a width. It will extend the full width of your layout. It contains an image placeholder that should be replaced with your own linked logo ~~ */
.header {
background-color:#06C
/* ~~ These are the columns for the layout. ~~
1) Padding is only placed on the top and/or bottom of the divs. The elements within these divs have padding on their sides. This saves you from any "box model math". Keep in mind, if you add any side padding or border to the div itself, it will be added to the width you define to create the *total* width. You may also choose to remove the padding on the element in the div and place a second div within it with no width and the padding necessary for your design.
2) No margin has been given to the columns since they are all floated. If you must add margin, avoid placing it on the side you're floating toward (for example: a right margin on a div set to float right). Many times, padding can be used instead. For divs where this rule must be broken, you should add a "display:inline" declaration to the div's rule to tame a bug where some versions of Internet Explorer double the margin.
3) Since classes can be used multiple times in a document (and an element can also have multiple classes applied), the columns have been assigned class names instead of IDs. For example, two sidebar divs could be stacked if necessary. These can very easily be changed to IDs if that's your preference, as long as you'll only be using them once per document.
4) If you prefer your nav on the right instead of the left, simply float these columns the opposite direction (all right instead of all left) and they'll render in reverse order. There's no need to move the divs around in the HTML source.
.sidebar1 {
float: left;
width: 20%;
padding-bottom: 0px;
background: #f1da36; /* Old browsers */
background: -moz-linear-gradient(left, #f1da36 0%, #fefcea 100%); /* FF3.6+ */
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, right top, color-stop(0%,#f1da36), color-stop(100%,#fefcea)); /* Chrome,Safari4+ */
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, #f1da36 0%,#fefcea 100%); /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */
background: -o-linear-gradient(left, #f1da36 0%,#fefcea 100%); /* Opera 11.10+ */
background: -ms-linear-gradient(left, #f1da36 0%,#fefcea 100%); /* IE10+ */
background: linear-gradient(to right, #f1da36 0%,#fefcea 100%); /* W3C */
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#f1da36', endColorstr='#fefcea',GradientType=1 ); /* IE6-9 */
.content {
padding: 0px 0;
width: 80%;
float: left;
/* ~~ This grouped selector gives the lists in the .content area space ~~ */
.content ul, .content ol {
padding: 0 15px 15px 40px; /* this padding mirrors the right padding in the headings and paragraph rule above. Padding was placed on the bottom for space between other elements on the lists and on the left to create the indention. These may be adjusted as you wish. */
/* ~~ The footer ~~ */
.footer {
padding: 10px 0;
background-color: #000000;
position: relative;/* this gives IE6 hasLayout to properly clear */
clear: both; /* this clear property forces the .container to understand where the columns end and contain them */
font-family: "Comic Sans MS", cursive;
/* ~~ miscellaneous float/clear classes ~~ */
.fltrt {  /* this class can be used to float an element right in your page. The floated element must precede the element it should be next to on the page. */
float: right;
margin-left: 8px;
.fltlft { /* this class can be used to float an element left in your page. The floated element must precede the element it should be next to on the page. */
float: left;
margin-right: 8px;
.clearfloat { /* this class can be placed on a <br /> or empty div as the final element following the last floated div (within the #container) if the #footer is removed or taken out of the #container */
clear:both;
height:0;
font-size: 1px;
line-height: 0px;
#menurules {
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
-->
</style>
<link href="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<!--[if lte IE 7]>
<style>
.content { margin-right: -1px; } /* this 1px negative margin can be placed on any of the columns in this layout with the same corrective effect. */
ul.nav a { zoom: 1; }  /* the zoom property gives IE the hasLayout trigger it needs to correct extra whiltespace between the links */
</style>
<![endif]-->
<script src="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBar.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
  <div class="header"><a href="#"><img src="BLTS1.jpg" alt="BLTS" name="BLTS" width="100%" height="100%" id="BLTS" style="display: block;" /></a>
   <ul id="MenuBar1" class="MenuBarHorizontal">
     <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="#"><center>Home</center></a></li>
     <li><a href="#"><center>Shows</center></a>
<ul>
         <li><a href="#"><u>Upcoming shows</u><br />
<br />
May 4th 2013 @<img src="502.jpg" width="5%" height="5%"><br />
Bright Like The Sun along with Little Science<br />
8pm 21+
</a></li>
               </ul>
     </li>
     <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="#"><center>Merch</center></a>
       <ul>
         <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="#"><u>Album</u><br /><img src="coda fin cover.jpg" width="15%" height="15%"><font size="4">Coda Fin</font><br />
Purchase Here or Itunes</a>
                    </li>
         <li><a href="#">Shirts--Coming Soon!</a></li>
         <li><a href="#">Various--Coming Soon!</a></li>
       </ul>
     </li>
     <li><a href="#"><center>Bio</center></a></li>
<li><a href="#"><center>Contact</center></a></li>
</ul><!-- end .header --></div>
<div class="sidebar1">
  <p></p>
    <br />
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
    <p> </p>
  </div> 
  <div class="content"><p align="right"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/brightlikethesun"><img src="FB.jpg" width="30" height="31" alt="Facebook" /></a><img src="twitter-icon.png" width="30" height="31" /></p>
    <p align="left"><img src="weare.jpg" width="185" height="72" /></p><p align="right"><iframe style="border:none" src="http://files.podsnack.com/iframe/embed.html?hash=adznldvg&t=1366488970" width="340" height="54" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" ></iframe></p>
    <p><img src="BLTS2.jpg" alt="BLTS" width="411" height="297" align="left" /><img src="BLTS font.jpg" width="340" /> is a Post-Rock band from San Antonio. They were born in early 2012 from the collective desire to make beautiful, thought provoking, and at times, chaotic music. Much like fellow Texan bands like Explosions in the Sky and This Will Destroy You, they are entirely instrumental, and known for creating progressively intricate waves of ambiance that grow with intensity and an unabashed wash of emotion. Attuned to their affinity for dynamics, seeing them live takes the listener from deafening walls of orchestrated sound, to melodies so subtle that one finds themselves acutely aware of their own breathing. <br />
      Bright Like The Sun&rsquo;s debut album, Coda Fin, was engineered/mixed by Alex Bhore (of This Will Destroy You), and mastered by TW Walsh (of Pedro The Lion). The record, which was self released, was made available on April 12, 2013.<br /><br /><img src="BLTS3.jpg" width="330" height="245" align="right" /></p>
<br />
<br />
    <h4>Bright Like The Sun Consists of:</h4>
    <p>Rob Mochen - Guitar <br />
    Chris Etheredge - Guitar/Keys <br />
    Christian Miranda - Bass <br />
    Steven Barrera - Drums    </p>
    <p><br />
    </p>
    <h4><u>Coda Fin</u> Release Date April 12th 2013    </h4>
    <h4><img src="coda fin cover.jpg" width="250" height="238" align="left" /><img src="venues.jpg" width="171" height="65" align="right" /><br />
    <br />
    <br />
    <br />
       <a href="http://502bar.com/"><img src="502.jpg" width="150" height="112" align="right" /></a><a href="http://www.gypsyloungeaustin.com"><img src="gypsylounge.jpg" / width="150" height="112" align="right"></a></h4>
    <p align="right"> </p>
  </div>
  <div class="footer">
    <p><font face="verdana" font size="2" font color="#FFFFFF">&#169;2013 Bright Like The Sun All Rights Reserved</font></p>
    <!-- end .footer --></div>
  <!-- end .container --></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MenuBar1", {imgDown:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif", imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"});
</script>
</body>
</html>

Answer 1

What I see:
You need a width on the ul.MenuBarVertical style. Make it the same width as the ul.MenuBarVertical li selector.
Remove the float: none; from this style:
ul.MenuBarVertical ul li
     width: 12em;
     float: none;
No such measurement as a half a pixel:
ul.MenuBarVertical ul
     border: .5px solid #CCC;
If you want a border, 1px is minimum...you repeat this incorrect half-pixel in several places.
Running your page through the W3C Validator returned this: http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthydirections.ca%2F&charset=%28dete ct+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0
Your initial errors are not declaring a DOCTYPE, which among other things, does not provide the browser with any information regarding how you want the code interpreted for your viewer. Some browsers guess well, some do not (IE).
This
     <html>
is insufficient.
Apply this in its place, and run through the validator again.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
Beth