diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 1b6810f62..8850a7004 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ def jruby?
   return RUBY_ENGINE == "jruby"
 end
 
+gem "cabin", "0.1.2" # for logging. apache 2 license
 gem "bunny" # for amqp support, MIT-style license
 gem "uuidtools" # for naming amqp queues, License ???
 gem "filewatch", "~> 0.3.0"  # for file tailing, BSD License
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 5d1feaa6c..115c95335 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ GEM
   remote: http://rubygems.org/
   specs:
     awesome_print (0.4.0)
-    bouncy-castle-java (1.5.0146.1)
+    bson (1.4.0)
     bson (1.4.0-java)
     bunny (0.7.6)
+    cabin (0.1.2)
+      json
     filewatch (0.3.0)
     gelf (1.1.3)
       json
@@ -12,13 +14,9 @@ GEM
     gmetric (0.1.3)
     haml (3.1.3)
     jls-grok (0.9.0)
-    jruby-elasticsearch (0.0.10)
-    jruby-openssl (0.7.4)
-      bouncy-castle-java
+    json (1.6.1)
     json (1.6.1-java)
     minitest (2.6.1)
-    mizuno (0.4.0)
-      rack (>= 1.0.0)
     mongo (1.4.0)
       bson (= 1.4.0)
     rack (1.3.3)
@@ -36,21 +34,20 @@ GEM
 
 PLATFORMS
   java
+  ruby
 
 DEPENDENCIES
   awesome_print
   bunny
+  cabin (= 0.1.2)
   filewatch (~> 0.3.0)
   gelf
   gelfd (~> 0.1.0)
   gmetric (~> 0.1.3)
   haml
   jls-grok (= 0.9.0)
-  jruby-elasticsearch (~> 0.0.10)
-  jruby-openssl
   json
   minitest
-  mizuno
   mongo
   rack
   rake
diff --git a/lib/logstash/agent.rb b/lib/logstash/agent.rb
index bcf426513..e16697601 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/agent.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/agent.rb
@@ -227,14 +227,14 @@ class LogStash::Agent
     end
 
     if @verbose >= 3  # Uber debugging.
-      @logger.level = Logger::DEBUG
+      @logger.level = :debug
       $DEBUG = true
     elsif @verbose == 2 # logstash debug logs
-      @logger.level = Logger::DEBUG
+      @logger.level = :debug
     elsif @verbose == 1 # logstash info logs
-      @logger.level = Logger::INFO
+      @logger.level = :info
     else # Default log level
-      @logger.level = Logger::WARN
+      @logger.level = :warn
     end
   end # def configure
 
diff --git a/lib/logstash/config/file.rb b/lib/logstash/config/file.rb
index 9b012b4aa..fe8e36567 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/config/file.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/config/file.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class LogStash::Config::File
   def initialize(path=nil, string=nil)
     @path = path
     @string = string
-    @logger = Logger.new(STDERR)
+    @logger = LogStash::Logger.new(STDERR)
 
     if (path.nil? and string.nil?) or (!path.nil? and !string.nil?)
        raise "Must give path or string, not both or neither"
diff --git a/lib/logstash/logging.rb b/lib/logstash/logging.rb
index e3365d249..bafb342cd 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/logging.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/logging.rb
@@ -1,91 +1,19 @@
 require "logstash/namespace"
+require "cabin"
 require "logger"
 
-class LogStash::Logger < Logger
-  # Try to load awesome_print, if it fails, log it later
-  # but otherwise we will continue to operate as normal.
-  begin 
-    require "ap"
-    @@have_awesome_print = true
-  rescue LoadError => e
-    @@have_awesome_print = false
-    @@notify_awesome_print_load_failed = e
-  end
-
+class LogStash::Logger < Cabin::Channel
   public
   def initialize(*args)
-    super(*args)
-    @formatter = LogStash::Logger::Formatter.new
+    super()
 
     # Set default loglevel to WARN unless $DEBUG is set (run with 'ruby -d')
-    self.level = $DEBUG ? Logger::DEBUG: Logger::INFO
+    @level = $DEBUG ? :debug : :info
     if ENV["LOGSTASH_DEBUG"]
-      self.level = Logger::DEBUG
+      self.level = :debug
     end
 
-    @formatter.progname = self.progname = File.basename($0)
-
-    # Conditional support for awesome_print
-    if !@@have_awesome_print && @@notify_awesome_print_load_failed
-      debug [ "awesome_print not found, falling back to Object#inspect." \
-              "If you want prettier log output, run 'gem install "\
-              "awesome_print'", 
-              { :exception => @@notify_awesome_print_load_failed }]
-
-      # Only show this once.
-      @@notify_awesome_print_load_failed = nil
-    end
+    #self[:program] = File.basename($0)
+    subscribe(::Logger.new(*args))
   end # def initialize
-
-  public
-  def level=(level)
-    super(level)
-    @formatter.level = level
-  end # def level=
 end # class LogStash::Logger
-
-# Implement a custom Logger::Formatter that uses awesome_inspect on non-strings.
-class LogStash::Logger::Formatter < Logger::Formatter
-  attr_accessor :level
-  attr_accessor :progname
-
-  public
-  def call(severity, timestamp, who, object)
-    # override progname to be the caller if the log level threshold is DEBUG
-    # We only do this if the logger level is DEBUG because inspecting the
-    # stack and doing extra string manipulation can have performance impacts
-    # under high logging rates.
-    if @level == Logger::DEBUG
-      # callstack inspection, include our caller
-      # turn this: "/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/workspace.rb:52:in `irb_binding'"
-      # into this: ["/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/workspace.rb", "52", "irb_binding"]
-      #
-      # caller[3] is actually who invoked the Logger#<type>
-      # This only works if you use the severity methods
-      path, line, method = caller[3].split(/(?::in `|:|')/)
-      # Trim RUBYLIB path from 'file' if we can
-      #whence = $:.select { |p| path.start_with?(p) }[0]
-      whence = $:.detect { |p| path.start_with?(p) }
-      if !whence
-        # We get here if the path is not in $:
-        file = path
-      else
-        file = path[whence.length + 1..-1]
-      end
-      who = "#{file}:#{line}##{method}"
-    end
-
-    # Log like normal if we got a string.
-    if object.is_a?(String)
-      super(severity, timestamp, who, object)
-    else
-      # If we logged an object, use .awesome_inspect (or just .inspect)
-      # to stringify it for higher sanity logging.
-      if object.respond_to?(:awesome_inspect)
-        super(severity, timestamp, who, object.awesome_inspect)
-      else
-        super(severity, timestamp, who, object.inspect)
-      end
-    end
-  end # def call
-end # class LogStash::Logger::Formatter