making a vcd from an avi file

I just went through the ordeal of creating a videocd from an avi file.
The process was painful.  I'll post how I did things, but before I do 
I'm curious if anyone else has done this sorta thing, and if so what
tools were used.

Here is the statement of the problem:

You have an avi file.  You would like to place the file onto a standard 
700MBR CDR cd and place it into your DVD player and have it play.