diff --git a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_2.gif b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_2.gif
index 30919f43..dcc5b833 100644
Binary files a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_2.gif and b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_2.gif differ
diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_2.gif b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_2.gif
index 53ae8668..89ad3b2a 100644
Binary files a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_2.gif and b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_2.gif differ
diff --git a/img/qwt/qwt_example_2.gif b/img/qwt/qwt_example_2.gif
index 956a413f..beeb8fa0 100644
Binary files a/img/qwt/qwt_example_2.gif and b/img/qwt/qwt_example_2.gif differ
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 1b9900c4..36d6cc2a 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -345,7 +345,6 @@ trueOrAllTrue(f::Function, x) = f(x)
 
 function handleColors!(d::Dict, arg, csym::Symbol)
   try
-    # @show arg typeof(arg)
     if arg == :auto
       d[csym] = :auto
     else
@@ -353,8 +352,6 @@ function handleColors!(d::Dict, arg, csym::Symbol)
       d[csym] = c
     end
     return true
-  # catch err
-  #   dump(err)
   end
   false
 end
@@ -372,7 +369,6 @@ function processAxisArg(d::Dict, axisletter::@compat(AbstractString), arg)
 
   elseif arg in (:flip, :invert, :inverted)
     d[symbol(axisletter * "flip")] = true
-    # end
 
   elseif T <: @compat(AbstractString)
     d[symbol(axisletter * "label")] = arg
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index 7a69301e..6f5df7e6 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ function addGadflyMarker!(plt::Plot, d::Dict, initargs::Dict, geoms...)
     if !isa(d[:markercolor], ColorGradient)
       d[:markercolor] = colorscheme(:bluesreds)
     end
-    push!(getGadflyContext(plt).scales, Gadfly.Scale.ContinuousColorScale(p -> RGB(getColorZ(d[:markercolor], p))))
+    push!(getGadflyContext(plt).scales, Gadfly.Scale.ContinuousColorScale(p -> RGBA(getColorZ(d[:markercolor], p))))
   end
 
   Gadfly.layer(gfargs...; x = d[:x], y = d[:y], kwargs...)
diff --git a/src/colors.jl b/src/colors.jl
index 393d8cdf..bf2f4d6d 100644
--- a/src/colors.jl
+++ b/src/colors.jl
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ convertColor(c::@compat(Union{AbstractString, Symbol})) = parse(Colorant, string
 convertColor(c::Colorant) = c
 convertColor(cvec::AbstractVector) = map(convertColor, cvec)
 
+function convertColor(c, α::Real)
+  c = convertColor(c)
+  RGBA(c, α)
+end
+convertColor(cs::AVec, α::Real) = map(c -> convertColor(c, α), cs)
+convertColor(c, α::Void) = convertColor(c)
+
 # backup... try to convert
 getColor(c) = convertColor(c)
 
@@ -98,14 +105,14 @@ getColor(scheme::ColorScheme) = getColor(scheme, 1)
 getColorVector(scheme::ColorScheme) = [getColor(scheme)]
 
 colorscheme(scheme::ColorScheme) = scheme
-colorscheme(s::Symbol) = haskey(_gradients, s) ? ColorGradient(s) : ColorWrapper(convertColor(s))
-colorscheme{T<:Real}(s::Symbol, vals::AVec{T}) = ColorGradient(s, vals)
-colorscheme(cs::AVec, vs::AVec) = ColorGradient(cs, vs)
-colorscheme{T<:Colorant}(cs::AVec{T}) = ColorGradient(cs)
-colorscheme(f::Function) = ColorFunction(f)
-colorscheme(v::AVec) = ColorVector(v)
-colorscheme(m::AMat) = size(m,1) == 1 ? map(colorscheme, m) : [colorscheme(m[:,i]) for i in 1:size(m,2)]'
-colorscheme(c::Colorant) = ColorWrapper(c)
+colorscheme(s::Symbol; kw...) = haskey(_gradients, s) ? ColorGradient(s; kw...) : ColorWrapper(convertColor(s); kw...)
+colorscheme{T<:Real}(s::Symbol, vals::AVec{T}; kw...) = ColorGradient(s, vals; kw...)
+colorscheme(cs::AVec, vs::AVec; kw...) = ColorGradient(cs, vs; kw...)
+colorscheme{T<:Colorant}(cs::AVec{T}; kw...) = ColorGradient(cs; kw...)
+colorscheme(f::Function; kw...) = ColorFunction(f; kw...)
+colorscheme(v::AVec; kw...) = ColorVector(v; kw...)
+colorscheme(m::AMat; kw...) = size(m,1) == 1 ? map(c->colorscheme(c; kw...), m) : [colorscheme(m[:,i]; kw...) for i in 1:size(m,2)]'
+colorscheme(c::Colorant; kw...) = ColorWrapper(c; kw...)
 
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -138,23 +145,29 @@ immutable ColorGradient <: ColorScheme
   colors::Vector{Colorant}
   values::Vector{Float64}
 
-  function ColorGradient{T<:Colorant,S<:Real}(cs::AVec{T}, vals::AVec{S} = 0:1)
-    length(cs) == length(vals) && return new(cs, collect(vals))
+  function ColorGradient{T<:Colorant,S<:Real}(cs::AVec{T}, vals::AVec{S} = 0:1; alpha = nothing)
+    if length(cs) == length(vals)
+      return new(convertColor(cs,alpha), collect(vals))
+    end
     
     # otherwise interpolate evenly between the minval and maxval
     minval, maxval = minimum(vals), maximum(vals)
     vs = Float64[interpolate(minval, maxval, w) for w in linspace(0, 1, length(cs))]
-    new(cs, vs)
+    new(convertColor(cs,alpha), vs)
   end
 end
 
 # create a gradient from a symbol (blues, reds, etc) and vector of boundary values
-function ColorGradient{T<:Real}(s::Symbol, vals::AVec{T} = 0:1)
+function ColorGradient{T<:Real}(s::Symbol, vals::AVec{T} = 0:1; kw...)
   haskey(_gradients, s) || error("Invalid gradient symbol.  Choose from: ", sort(collect(keys(_gradients))))
 
   # if we passed in the right number of values, create the gradient directly
   cs = _gradients[s]
-  ColorGradient(cs, vals)
+  ColorGradient(cs, vals; kw...)
+end
+
+function ColorGradient{T<:Real}(cs::AVec{Symbol}, vals::AVec{T} = 0:1; kw...)
+  ColorGradient(map(convertColor, cs), vals; kw...)
 end
 
 getColor(gradient::ColorGradient, idx::Int) = gradient.colors[mod1(idx, length(gradient.colors))]
@@ -225,7 +238,7 @@ getColorZ(scheme::ColorFunction, z::Real) = scheme.f(z)
 "Wraps a vector of colors... may be vector of Symbol/String/Colorant"
 immutable ColorVector <: ColorScheme
   v::Vector{Colorant}
-  ColorVector(v::AVec) = new(convertColor(v))
+  ColorVector(v::AVec; alpha = nothing) = new(convertColor(v,alpha))
 end
 
 getColor(scheme::ColorVector, idx::Int) = convertColor(scheme.v[mod1(idx, length(scheme.v))])
@@ -235,11 +248,12 @@ getColorVector(scheme::ColorVector) = scheme.v
 # --------------------------------------------------------------
 
 "Wraps a single color"
-immutable ColorWrapper{C<:Colorant} <: ColorScheme
-  c::C
+immutable ColorWrapper <: ColorScheme
+  c::RGBA
+  ColorWrapper(c::Colorant; alpha = nothing) = new(convertColor(c, alpha))
 end
 
-ColorWrapper(s::Symbol) = ColorWrapper(parse(Colorant, s))
+ColorWrapper(s::Symbol; alpha = nothing) = ColorWrapper(convertColor(parse(Colorant, s), alpha))
 
 getColor(scheme::ColorWrapper, idx::Int) = scheme.c
 getColorZ(scheme::ColorWrapper, z::Real) = scheme.c
@@ -290,19 +304,19 @@ const _lightness_lightbg = [60.0]
 const _lch_c_const = [60]
 
 function adjust_lch(color, l, c)
-    lch = convert(LCHab,color)
+    lch = convert(LCHab, color)
     convert(RGB, LCHab(l, c, lch.h))
 end
 
 function lightness_from_background(bgcolor)
-  bglight = convert(LCHab,bgcolor).l
+  bglight = convert(LCHab, bgcolor).l
   bglight < 50.0 ? _lightness_darkbg[1] : _lightness_lightbg[1]
 end
 
 function gradient_from_list(cs)
     zvalues = Plots.get_zvalues(length(cs))
     indices = sortperm(zvalues)
-    sorted_colors = map(RGB, cs[indices])
+    sorted_colors = map(RGBA, cs[indices])
     sorted_zvalues = zvalues[indices]
     ColorGradient(sorted_colors, sorted_zvalues)
 end
diff --git a/src/plotter.jl b/src/plotter.jl
index 0481b42f..b1e1fa9f 100644
--- a/src/plotter.jl
+++ b/src/plotter.jl
@@ -160,12 +160,19 @@ function backend()
         @eval const pypath = PyPlot.pywrap(PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.path"))
         # @eval const pycolorbar = PyPlot.pywrap(PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.colorbar"))
         if !isa(Base.Multimedia.displays[end], Base.REPL.REPLDisplay)
-          PyPlot.ioff()
+          PyPlot.ioff()  # stops wierd behavior of displaying incomplete graphs in IJulia
+          
+          # # TODO: how the hell can I use PyQt4??
           # "pyqt4"=>:qt_pyqt4
           # PyPlot.backend[1] = "pyqt4"
           # PyPlot.gui[1] = :qt_pyqt4
           # PyPlot.switch_backend("Qt4Agg")
-          PyPlot.pygui(true)
+
+          # only turn on the gui if we want it
+          if PyPlot.gui != :none
+            PyPlot.pygui(true)
+          end
+
         end
       catch err
         warn("Couldn't import PyPlot.  Install it with: Pkg.add(\"PyPlot\").")
diff --git a/src/recipes.jl b/src/recipes.jl
index 8fe1a45c..3aa26a0c 100644
--- a/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/src/recipes.jl
@@ -118,6 +118,6 @@ end
 "Sparsity plot... heatmap of non-zero values of a matrix"
 function spy{T<:Real}(y::AMat{T}; kw...)
   I,J,V = findnz(y)
-  heatmap(J, I; leg=false, yflip=true, kw...)
+  heatmap(J, I; leg=false, yflip=true, nbins=size(y), kw...)
 end
 
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index a7469163..2bdb6b26 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -206,6 +206,9 @@ function debugplots(on = true)
   _debugMode.on = on
 end
 
+debugshow(x) = show(x)
+debugshow(x::AbstractArray) = print(summary(x))
+
 function dumpdict(d::Dict, prefix = "")
   _debugMode.on || return
   println()
@@ -214,7 +217,8 @@ function dumpdict(d::Dict, prefix = "")
   end
   for k in sort(collect(keys(d)))
     @printf("%14s: ", k)
-    println(d[k])
+    debugshow(d[k])
+    println()
   end
   println()
 end