function initPlaylist()
{
    // get the playlist container
    var playlist = $("#playlist-window");
    
	// get playlist page url
	var url =$(playlist).children("a").attr("href");
	url += " #playlist-now-playing"; 
	
    // get playlist bounds
    var x = parseInt($(playlist).css("left"));
    var w = $(playlist).width();
    var h = $(playlist).height();
    
    // fade playlist
    $(playlist).css("opacity", 0.00);
    
    var fadeOut = function()
    {
        $(playlist).animate(
        {
            opacity: 0.0,
            left: "-=100"
        }, 5000, fadeIn);
        
    }
    
    var fadeIn = function()
    {
        // load the contents of the playlist
        $(playlist).load(url, function(response, status, xhr)
        {
			if (status == "error") 
            {
                var msg = "Sorry but there was an error: ";
                $("#error").html(msg + xhr.status + " " + xhr.statusText);
            }
            var r = x + w;
            $(playlist).css(
            {
                left: r
            })
            $(playlist).animate(
            {
                left: "-=" + w,
				opacity: 0.75
            }, 5000, fadeOut).delay(10000);
        });
    }
    
    fadeIn();
}