use Perl

Since I recently posted a plea for MySQL query optimization help, I've been reading like mad about how to optimize MySQL queries. I'm not perfect, but I'm getting the hang of it. I have one query which used to take about 15 minutes to run now taking about five seconds. It didn't help that the query has hideously complicated logic with a bizarre edge case (I've changed all of the table and column names):

SELECT DATE_FORMAT( m1.processed, '%Y-%m') as `When`,
       m1.aid  AS 'A ID',
       c.fname AS 'First Name',
       c.sname AS 'Last Name',
       SUM(
         ( m1.from_foo + m1.from_bar )
         -
         ( m1.to_foo + m1.to_bar )
       ) AS Total,
       IF (a.extra IS NULL, 'Yes', 'No') AS Disabled
FROM   manifests m1
LEFT JOIN  regulators            ON m1.manifest = r_manifest
LEFT JOIN  manifests m2          ON m2.manifest = o_manifest
LEFT JOIN  alligator_crutches ac ON b.dedid     = ac.dedid
INNER JOIN alligators a          ON a.aid       = m1.aid
INNER JOIN customers c           ON c.aid       = m1.aid
INNER JOIN baubles b             ON m1.manifest = b.manifest
WHERE  m1.aid    != 0
  AND  m1.aid    IS NOT NULL
  AND  m1.processed BETWEEN '2007-08-01' AND '2007-08-31'
  AND  (
    m2.processed IS NULL
      OR
    (
        m1.manifest = r_manifest
          AND
        m2.processed BETWEEN '2007-08-01' AND '2007-08-31'
    )
  )
GROUP BY m1.aid
ORDER BY Total DESC

All things considered, I'm feeling quite accomplished. It's not perfect, but it's a darn good start.