What Happened to the Videos?
Short version: The server I'm now using to host my blog does not recognize "mp4" as a valid MIME type and the hosting company is not willing to add it to the list. So, it was then a choice between using a format most people would still be able to use (even if it's not an open standard) or find another host.
Frankly, the only real choice there was to choose another video format which left me looking at (just as before) Real or WMV. "Lesser of two evils"? Perhaps, but I just can't tolerate the way Real treats my system. Like 'em or not, at least Microsoft's video player installs only the video player and nothing else.
For the relatively small number of non-MS users that hit my site, there are players and converters to allow the videos to be played on those platforms. My apologies for the inconvenience.
So, all the MP4 videos have been converted to WMV and (at least for the near future) new entries will use WMV.