[2.49] Rotate Node Trouble

Would anyone be willing to help me get the 2.49.2 rotate node working properly?

I am attempting to create a rough displacement in a render. The image below is what I have currently. It’s WIP; halfway decent, however the stripes are at a 45 degree angle (wood texture default), NOT horizontal; which is what I want.
(The effect I’m shooting for is something like at the beginnings of the trailers/teasers for the game Battlefield 3; example here. )

I achieve this effect by plugging in a black and white texture into a displace node. The texture is just a wood texture, and a cloud texture for variation.
http://i.imgur.com/pBnja.png

As soon as the rotate node is connected, the output node gets nothing (black).
Anyone know how I would rotate a wood texture to have horizontal stripes (in the compositor)?

Fixed the problem by running the wood texture through a separate node texture before letting it into the comp nodes. Demented… Go figure.