<?php

function get_recent_comments($src_count=5, $src_length=50, $pre_HTML='<li><h2>Recent Comments</h2>', $post_HTML='</li>') {
	global $wpdb;
	
	$sql = "SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type, 
			SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,$src_length) AS com_excerpt 
		FROM $wpdb->comments 
		LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb->posts ON ($wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb->posts.ID) 
		WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' 
		ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC 
		LIMIT $src_count";
	$comments = $wpdb->get_results($sql);

	$output = $pre_HTML;
	$output .= "\n<ul>";
	foreach ($comments as $comment) {
		$output .= "\n\t<li><a href=\"" . get_permalink($comment->ID) . "#comment-" . $comment->comment_ID  . "\" title=\"on " . $comment->post_title . "\"><strong>" . $comment->comment_author . "</strong></a>: " . strip_tags($comment->com_excerpt) . "... <a href=\"" . get_permalink($comment->ID) . "#comment-" . $comment->comment_ID  . "\" title=\"on " . $comment->post_title . "\"><b>&raquo;</b></a></li>";
	}
	$output .= "\n</ul>";
	$output .= $post_HTML;
	
	echo $output;

}

?>