Yeah that's me fucking things up again
The problem is this - everything on this site was done in PHP, which was fine on Linux with Apache. But now we're running on Windows with IIS which is "PHP compatible", which is far from "PHP native". That results in the PHP processor sucking up all the power after a few thousand requests it'll grind to a halt, pausing everything until the queue is cleared up and then runs fine again.
What I'm doing is converting page after page to ASP (which is IIS native) to lessen the PHP requests. Now I'm done with both the news page and the gallery so we should see improvements.
Sorry for the inconvenience. But had to do it before the the expected rush this weekend

8. Don't store all your backups in one place.If Cylons can benefit from off-site backup, so can you.
- PC Worlds "10 Business Lessons From 'Battlestar Galactica'"