>>> import datetime
>>> now = datetime.datetime.now()
>>> fut = datetime.datetime(2009, 12, 24, 0, 0, 0)
>>> diff = fut - now
>>> print diff
73 days, 11:39:34.344000
>>> print diff.days
73
>>> print diff.seconds
41974
>>> (diff.seconds / 60) / 60
11
>>> (diff.seconds / 60) % 60
39
>>> (diff.seconds % 60) % 60
34