recursively cast a PHP object to array
<?php
/*
This function saved my life.
found on: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums//showthread.php?t=438748
by: crvandyke
It takes an object, and when all else if/else/recursive functions fail to convert the object into an associative array, this one goes for the kill. Who would'a thunk it?!
*/
$array = json_decode(json_encode($object), true);