Date format in Master Folder not consistent

Question

Tonight, I found some old cell phone pics from 2 years ago sitting in a folder on my desktop (was never imported to iphoto). So I went ahead and imported them. In iphoto, the newly imported old pics went to the correct locations (amongst the 2009 photos). That's great. But, when I go to those photos and hit "reveal in finder," I notice that the original files have been copied into today's folder, as if the pictures were just taken today. I was hoping they would go into the folders from 2 years ago where they belong. What gives?
Also, I don't know why, but the date format in my Master Folder just got screwy. When I do column view, one column will only have the years. So for 2011, it says I have 24 folders. Of those 24 folders belonging to 2011, 23 of them have actual dates as their name (eg: "July 26, 2011" or "February 16, 2011"). However, one lonely folder simply has "08" (meaning "August"), and when I click on it, it reveals the dates of the month within August 2011 as separate folders, so folders with digits for names indicating the date of import (eg: "18" or "23" or "25"). So those cell phone pics from 2 years ago that I just imported today are showing up in the folder reflecting today's date. Again, what gives???

Answer 1

There is no correlation between the placing of files on the HD and the Events in the iPhoto Window and there hasn't been for three versions of iPhoto now.
There is no support for user acess of the files within the Library Package. It's not designed for that. There's also no need for it. See below for more.
FWIW, current versions of iPhoto use folders based on the date and time of import. Some earlier versions based it on the date and time of the photos. Even earlier versions used date and time of import.
Simple tip: Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things,, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:   You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps.  If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running:
For users of 10.6 and later:  You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation  which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu.
Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and 10.5 Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
Drag and Drop: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
File -> Export: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
Show File:  a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier:  Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.    3.b.
b: On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.