Cannot create CCK items with date fields

I just upgraded to dev versions of the calendar and date api in drupal.  Of course I get burned...   But we needed a bugfix, fix one bug, get one free seems to be the case here.
Somebody else reported it first:  http://drupal.org/node/409476
I use the handy-dandy "drupal_set_message" to add some debugging to the date_api_ical.inc file.  I want to see the value of the $ical_date
Added this:
  drupal_set_message ("" . print_r ($ical_date));
This is what comes on screen.  Is there a way to get "print_r" to not close a response?
Array ( [datetime] => [tz] => America/New_York [all_day] => 1 [granularity] => a:3:{i:0;s:4:"year";i:1;s:5:"month";i:2;s:3:"day";} ) Array ( [datetime] => [tz] => America/New_York [all_day] => 1 [granularity] => a:3:{i:0;s:4:"year";i:1;s:5:"month";i:2;s:3:"day";} )