diff --git a/dump.py b/dump.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..060ad28b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dump.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import traceback
+import json
+
+def cvt(s):
+    if isinstance(s, str):
+        return s
+    try:
+        return json.dumps(s, indent = 4)
+    except TypeError:
+        return str(s)
+
+def dump(*vals):
+    # http://docs.python.org/library/traceback.html
+    stack= traceback.extract_stack()
+    vars= stack[-2][3]
+
+    # strip away the call to dump()
+    vars= '('.join(vars.split('(')[1:])
+    vars= ')'.join(vars.split(')')[:-1])
+
+    vals= [cvt(v) for v in vals]
+    has_newline = sum(1 for v in vals if '\n' in v)
+    if has_newline:
+        print('%s:' % vars)
+        print(', '.join(vals))
+    else:
+        print('%s:' % vars, ', '.join(vals))