function startCountdown(cdYear, cdMonth, cdDay, cdEvent, cdMessage) {

	yr=cdYear; mo=cdMonth; da=cdDay; event_title=cdEvent; message_on_event=cdMessage;

	crosscount=document.getElementById&&!document.all?document.getElementById("countdownspan") : countdownspan
	countdown()
}

function countdown(){
	var montharray=new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec")
	var today=new Date()
	var todayy=today.getYear()
	if (todayy < 1000)
		todayy+=1900
	var todaym=today.getMonth()
	var todayd=today.getDate()
	var todayh=today.getHours()
	var todaymin=today.getMinutes()
	var todaysec=today.getSeconds()
	var todaystring=montharray[todaym]+" "+todayd+", "+todayy+" "+todayh+":"+todaymin+":"+todaysec

	futurestring=montharray[mo-1]+" "+da+", "+yr
	dd=Date.parse(futurestring)-Date.parse(todaystring)
	dday=Math.floor(dd/(60*60*1000*24)*1)
	dhour=Math.floor(((dd%(60*60*1000*24))/(60*60*1000)*1)+1)
	dmin=Math.floor(((dd%(60*60*1000*24))%(60*60*1000))/(60*1000)*1)
	dsec=Math.floor((((dd%(60*60*1000*24))%(60*60*1000))%(60*1000))/1000*1)

	//if on day of event
	if(dday<=0&&dhour<=0&&dmin<=0&&dsec<=1&&todayd==da&&todaym==mo&&todayy==yr){
		crosscount.innerHTML=message_on_event
		return
	}
	//if past day of event
	else if (dday<=-1){
		//crosscount.innerHTML="Some message that the event has passed"
		return
	}
	//else, if not yet
	else{
			crosscount.innerHTML=event_title+" is just "+dday+" days, "+dhour+" hours, "+dmin+" minutes, and "+dsec+" seconds away!"
		}

	setTimeout("countdown()",1000)
}