Also,
show processlist when logged into mysql will display what's happening... this may give you a hint why things seem to be "stuck"
MySQL may also be writing an error log, in my setup it is located in the database directory and named <hostname>.err ... eg if your server is called
www.mydomain.com the error log will be called
www.mydomain.com.err
Here's an example of a line showing a problem with a table...
090601 13:35:35 [ERROR] /usr/local/mysql/libexec/mysqld: Table './sdqueue/pre_urlqueue_e9' is marked as crashed and should be repaired