Verification Failed and CD is stuck in my computer! PLEASE HELP!!!

I own a 2008 Mac Book Pro with iPhoto '08 on it. I recently tried to burn some photos onto a brand new Office Max brand CD-R to share with my family, however iPhoto tells me that the burn failed because it could not verify the CD. When I try to eject the CD using the eject button on the keyboard, it doesn't do anything and there is no icon or anything on the computer that tells me if there is a CD or not in it. So, my 2 main questions are:

1) Is there a way to burn photos to a CD without the verification error being an issue?
2) Is there a way force eject a CD from a Mac Book Pro?

PLEASE HELP!!! I would like to submit them to a calender before the deadline.