function get_excerpt($lenght = 25, $show_shortcodes = '') {

        if ($this->post->post_excerpt != '') {
            return $this->post->post_excerpt;
        }

        if (empty($lenght)) {
            $lenght = 25;
        }

        $buffy = '';
        //print_r($this->post);

        //remove [caption .... [/caption] from $this->post->post_content
        $post_content = preg_replace("/\[caption(.*)\[\/caption\]/i", '', $this->post->post_content);

        $buffy .= td_util::excerpt($post_content, $lenght, $show_shortcodes);
        return $buffy;
    }