I am wondering if any one with apache/php/mysql on a 24/7 production web server would be willing to give me some space and a subdomain/directory on their server for me to mess around with some stuff.
Buy hosting. Theres plenty of hosting companies out there where you can get 100 - 200 megs or so of space, with 5 - 10 gigabytes of transfer, plenty enough to mess around with. And this will only cost you 2 - 3 dollars a month.