The weirdest MacBook Pro problem so far

Almost a year since I got a 17″ MacBook Pro, not one of the earlier problem-prone models, so it should have worked out better – half way through the year though, a series of darker spots, like soot smudges, started appearing on various places of the screen. I am waiting for parts to arrive before taking it in and have it fixed, otherwise you can be laptop-less for days or weeks, and now the machine has developed a new symptom. After resuming from sleep, the display is all corrupted, with top third of the display one solid color, and the bottom two thirds another, plus an annoying flicker. If I close the lid, flip it upside down, and open the lid again, the display goes back to normal. The problem can be consistently reproduced, but I really cannot imagine what combination of electrical and/or software problems are causing this.