>. didn't realize html comments were not allowed before the doc-type,

 

It's not that they are not allowed, but anything before the doctype makes the browser render the page in quirks mode, and then parts of the stylesheet largely no longer work. 

 

In any case that page has tons of errors: http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loupiote.com%2Fphotos%2F3004192959.shtml