function slideSwitch() {

    var $active = $('#banner-slideshow IMG.active');

    if ( $active.length == 0 ) $active = $('#banner-slideshow IMG:last');

    // use this to pull the images in the order they appear in the markup
    //var $next =  $active.next().length ? $active.next()
     //   : $('#slideshow IMG:first');

    // uncomment the 3 lines below to pull the images in random order
    
		var $sibs  = $active.siblings();
		var rndNum = Math.floor(Math.random() * $sibs.length );
		var $next  = $( $sibs[ rndNum ] );


		$active.addClass('last-active');

		$next.css({opacity: 0.0})
			.addClass('active')
			.animate({opacity: 1.0}, 1000, function() {
			$active.removeClass('active last-active');
		});
	}

$(function() {
    setInterval( "slideSwitch()", 5000 );
});