diff --git a/libvips/include/vips/private.h b/libvips/include/vips/private.h
index 7b270002..e13964a8 100644
--- a/libvips/include/vips/private.h
+++ b/libvips/include/vips/private.h
@@ -154,9 +154,6 @@ void vips__region_take_ownership( struct _VipsRegion *reg );
 void vips__region_check_ownership( struct _VipsRegion *reg );
 void vips__region_no_ownership( struct _VipsRegion *reg );
 
-int vips__region_start( struct _VipsRegion *reg );
-void vips__region_stop( struct _VipsRegion *reg );
-
 typedef int (*VipsRegionFillFn)( struct _VipsRegion *, void * );
 int vips_region_fill( struct _VipsRegion *reg, 
 	VipsRect *r, VipsRegionFillFn fn, void *a );
diff --git a/libvips/iofuncs/region.c b/libvips/iofuncs/region.c
index 38924d7d..bbf008e0 100644
--- a/libvips/iofuncs/region.c
+++ b/libvips/iofuncs/region.c
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@
 /*
 #define DEBUG_MOVE 
 #define DEBUG_ENVIRONMENT 1
-#define DEBUG_CREATE
 #define DEBUG
+#define VIPS_DEBUG
  */
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ vips_region_finalize( GObject *gobject )
 
 /* Call a start function if no sequence is running on this VipsRegion.
  */
-int
+static int
 vips__region_start( VipsRegion *region )
 {
 	VipsImage *image = region->im;
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ vips__region_start( VipsRegion *region )
 
 /* Call a stop function if a sequence is running in this VipsRegion. 
  */
-void
+static void
 vips__region_stop( VipsRegion *region )
 {
 	IMAGE *image = region->im;
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ vips_region_dispose( GObject *gobject )
 	VipsImage *image = region->im;
 
 #ifdef VIPS_DEBUG
-	VIPS_DEBUG_MSG( "vips_region_dispose: " );
+	printf( "vips_region_dispose: \n" );
 	vips_object_print_name( VIPS_OBJECT( gobject ) );
 #endif /*VIPS_DEBUG*/
 
@@ -493,6 +493,10 @@ vips_region_new( VipsImage *image )
 {
 	VipsRegion *region;
 
+	/*
+	printf( "vips_region_new: on image %p\n", image ); 
+	 */
+
 	/* Ref quickly, we want to make sure we keep the image around.
 	 * We can't use the property system, we need to be very threaded.
 	 */
diff --git a/tools/vipsprofile b/tools/vipsprofile
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 16804e20..f58e730e
--- a/tools/vipsprofile
+++ b/tools/vipsprofile
@@ -370,20 +370,30 @@ for thread in threads:
     for event in thread.events:
         draw_event(ctx, event)
 
+memory_y = total_y * PIXELS_PER_GATE
+
+label = "memory"
+xbearing, ybearing, twidth, theight, xadvance, yadvance = \
+        ctx.text_extents(label)
+ctx.move_to(0, memory_y + theight + 8)
+ctx.set_source_rgb(1.00, 1.00, 1.00)
+ctx.show_text(label)
+
 memory = 0
+ctx.move_to(LEFT_BORDER, memory_y + MEM_HEIGHT)
+
 for event in all_events:
     if event.memory:
         memory += event.size
 
         left = LEFT_BORDER + event.start * PIXELS_PER_SECOND
-        top = total_y * PIXELS_PER_GATE + MEM_HEIGHT
-        top -= MEM_HEIGHT * memory / peak_memory
-        width = 1
-        height = 1
+        top = memory_y + MEM_HEIGHT - (MEM_HEIGHT * memory / peak_memory)
 
-        ctx.rectangle(left, top, width, height)
-        ctx.set_source_rgb(1.00, 1.00, 1.00)
-        ctx.fill()
+        ctx.line_to(left, top)
+
+ctx.set_line_width(1)
+ctx.set_source_rgb(1.00, 1.00, 1.00)
+ctx.stroke()
 
 axis_y = total_y * PIXELS_PER_GATE + MEM_HEIGHT