I've found a workaround, but I find it bizarre. I do essentially the same thing for users (date creates, last access) and it works without a problem. I may send this up to the mysql or php folks. I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what might be wrong. I hate leaving issues like this unresolved.

Ahhhg... Same thing for users.

Should be fixed. Except that it once worked I would think this is a mysql bug.