diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js b/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js
index b86febad..261c0bf1 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js	
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ var MetadataReaderActions = actions.Actions({
 		}],
 
 	// XXX STUB: add support for this to .readMetadata(..)
-	_readAllMetadata: ['- Image/Read all metadata',
+	readAllMetadata: ['- Image/Read all metadata',
 		function(){
 			var that = this
 			// XXX make this a global API...
@@ -194,6 +194,19 @@ module.MetadataReader = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	handlers: [
 		// XXX STUB: need a better strategy to read metadata...
+		// 		Approach 1 (target):
+		// 			read the metadata on demand e.g. on .showMetadata(..)
+		// 				+ natural approach
+		// 				- not sync
+		// 					really complicated to organize...
+		//
+		// 		Approach 2:
+		// 			lazy read -- timeout and overwrite on next image
+		// 				- hack-ish
+		// 				+ simple
+		//
+		// 		Approach 3:
+		// 			index a dir
 		['focusImage', 
 			function(){
 				var gid = this.current
@@ -299,9 +312,9 @@ var MetadataUIActions = actions.Actions({
 			var field_order = this.config['metadata-field-order'] || []
 			var x = field_order.length + 1
 
-			var img = this.images && this.images[image] || null
 			// get image metadata...
-			var metadata = img && img.metadata || {} 
+			var metadata = this.getMetadata(image) || {} 
+			var img = this.images && this.images[image] || null
 
 			// helpers...
 			var _cmp = function(a, b){
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/ribbons.js b/ui (gen4)/ribbons.js
index 7f306b14..c974e69f 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/ribbons.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/ribbons.js	
@@ -203,7 +203,11 @@ module.DOMAdapter = {
 var RibbonsClassPrototype = {
 	// Generic getters...
 	getElemGID: function(elem){
-		return JSON.parse('"' + elem.attr('gid') + '"')
+		return JSON.parse('"' 
+			+ (elem instanceof jQuery ? 
+					elem.attr('gid') 
+				: elem.getAttribute('gid'))
+			+ '"')
 	},
 	setElemGID: function(elem, gid){
 		return $(elem)
@@ -1505,7 +1509,7 @@ var RibbonsPrototype = {
 		var unload_marks = []
 		loaded = loaded
 			.filter(function(i, img){ 
-				var g = that.getElemGID($(img))
+				var g = that.getElemGID(img)
 				if(gids.indexOf(g) >= 0){
 					return true
 				}
@@ -1513,7 +1517,8 @@ var RibbonsPrototype = {
 				unload_marks = unload_marks.concat(that.getImageMarks(g).toArray())
 				return false
 			})
-		// remove everything in one go...
+
+		// detach/remove everything in one go...
 		$(unloaded)
 			.detach()
 			.removeClass('moving current')