Most annoying problem. Ever.

I’ve written a function to capture the number of posts in a given category (my video category) and then display the posts into 3 separate columns.

The issue is that when I get it to display the correct posts, it ruins the columns! I cannot figure this out!

Here’s the difference:

To get it to display all of the posts in the correct order I have this:
<?php query_posts("showposts=$vidsSecond&offset=$vidsFirst&cat=15"); ?>

But, instead of displaying in three separate columns the way it should, it just stacks them all on top of each other. On the other hand, if I use this code:

<?php query_posts('showposts=$vidsSecond&offset=$vidsFirst&cat=15'); ?>

it displays in 3 columns, but only puts the latest video in all of the columns! (notice one uses ” and one uses ‘)

So, there you have it. The most annoying problem in the world. There is NO reason that I can tell that this would have any effect on the layout of the page. This is driving me bonkers.

Here’s the full code:

<?php
/*
Template Name: Vids
*/
?>
<?php get_header(); ?>
<?php
$vidsTotal=get_category(15)->count;
$vidsFirst=floor($vidsTotal/3);
$vidsSecond=floor(($vidsTotal-$vidsFirst)/2);
$vidsThird=ceil($vidsTotal-($vidsFirst+$vidsSecond));
?>
<div id="content">
<div id="VidsLeft" style="width:600px;margin: 2px 2px 2px 0;float:left;">
                <div id="LeftLeft" style="float:left;width:275px;">
		<?php query_posts("showposts=$vidsFirst&offset=0&cat=15"); ?>
		<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
			<div class="text" align="center">
			<h3><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Continue reading <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h3>
                        <br />
			<?php
			$values = get_post_custom_values("vid");
			if($values != "")
			{
			echo "<object width='200'><param name='movie' value='$values[0]'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='$values[0]' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='200'></embed></object>"; }
			?>
                        <?php $values = get_post_custom_values("vidAlt"); echo $values[0]; ?>
                        <br />
                        <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                        <?php endwhile; ?>
                        </div>
                </div>
                <div id="LeftRight" style="float:right;width:275px;">
		<?php query_posts("showposts=$vidsSecond&offset=$vidsFirst&cat=15"); ?>
		<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
			<div class="text" align="center">
			<h3><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Continue reading <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h3>
                        <br />
			<?php
			$values = get_post_custom_values("vid");
			if($values != "")
			{
			echo "<object width='200'><param name='movie' value='$values[0]'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='$values[0]' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='200'></embed></object>"; }
			?>
                        <?php $values = get_post_custom_values("vidAlt"); echo $values[0]; ?>
                        <br />
                        <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                        <?php endwhile; ?>
                        </div>
                </div>
</div>
                <div id="RightVids" style="float:right;width:300px;">
		<?php query_posts("showposts=$vidsThird&offset=($vidsFirst+$vidsSecond)&cat=15"); ?>
		<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
			<div class="text" align="center">
			<h3><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Continue reading <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h3>
                        <br />
			<?php
			$values = get_post_custom_values("vid");
			if($values != "")
			{
			echo "<object width='200'><param name='movie' value='$values[0]'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='$values[0]' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='200'></embed></object>"; }
			?>
                        <?php $values = get_post_custom_values("vidAlt"); echo $values[0]; ?>
                        <br />
                        <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                        <?php endwhile; ?>
                        </div>
                </div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

Any help would seriously be GREATLY appreciated.