i think there's something wrong with me. every time i try to watch a video, it rolls along merrily until the little gauge at the bottom reaches about 1/3
of the way and then it comes to a screeching halt!

does that happen to ANYONE else or just me?

This happens to me too. What I do is click on the video I want to watch, let it load and then pause the video and come back a few minutes later. This allows to video to continue loading and playback is not as broken up.

I haven't had this problem. Sounds frustrating.

crash'n'quilt, i'll have to try that.