diff --git a/bin/logstash b/bin/logstash
index 5bdb4bd44..f87f83591 100755
--- a/bin/logstash
+++ b/bin/logstash
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 require "rubygems"
 require "eventmachine"
 require "logstash/agent"
-require "yaml"
 require "optparse"
+require "yaml"
 
 Settings = Struct.new(:config_file, :daemonize)
 
diff --git a/etc/logstash-standalone.yaml b/etc/logstash-standalone.yaml
index 1e75025d0..455475d25 100644
--- a/etc/logstash-standalone.yaml
+++ b/etc/logstash-standalone.yaml
@@ -31,9 +31,8 @@ filters:
     apache-access:
       timestamp: "%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %Z"
 outputs:
-# For this demo, we'll write to websockets...
 - stdout:///
-- elasticsearch://localhost:9200/logs/all
+#- elasticsearch://localhost:9200/logs/all
 # But we could write to mongodb, too.
 #  - mongodb://localhost/parsedlogs
 # And also write to an AMQP topic
diff --git a/lib/logstash/event.rb b/lib/logstash/event.rb
index da6b23371..7552b0278 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/event.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/event.rb
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ module LogStash; class Event
     @data = {
       "@source" => "unknown",
       "@tags" => [],
-      "fields" => {},
+      "@fields" => {},
     }.merge(data)
 
-    if !timestamp
-      timestamp = LogStash::Time.now.utc.to_iso8601
+    if !@data.include?("@timestamp")
+      @data["@timestamp"] = LogStash::Time.now.utc.to_iso8601
     end
   end # def initialize
 
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ module LogStash; class Event
   def tags; @data["@tags"]; end # def tags
 
   # field-related access
-  def [](key); fields[key] end # def []
-  def []=(key, value); fields[key] = value end # def []=
-  def fields; return @data["fields"] end # def fields
+  def [](key); @data["@fields"][key] end # def []
+  def []=(key, value); @data["@fields"][key] = value end # def []=
+  def fields; return @data["@fields"] end # def fields
   
   def to_json; return @data.to_json end # def to_json
 
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/base.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..def064b7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+require "logstash/namespace"
+require "logstash/logging"
+
+class LogStash::Filters::Base
+  def initialize(config = {})
+    @logger = LogStash::Logger.new(STDERR)
+    @config = config
+  end # def initialize
+
+  def register
+    throw "#{self.class}#register must be overidden"
+  end # def register
+
+  def filter(event)
+    throw "#{self.class}#filter must be overidden"
+  end # def filter
+end # class LogStash::Filters::Base
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/date.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/date.rb
index 36a40c16b..9123b199e 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/date.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/date.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
+require "logstash/filters/base"
 require "logstash/time"
-require "logstash/logging"
 
-class LogStash::Filters::Date
+class LogStash::Filters::Date < LogStash::Filters::Base
   # The 'date' filter will take a value from your event and use it as the
   # event timestamp. This is useful for parsing logs generated on remote
   # servers or for importing old logs.
@@ -18,9 +17,9 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Date
   #
   # The format is whatever is supported by Ruby's DateTime.strptime
   def initialize(config = {})
-    @config = config
+    super
+
     @tags = Hash.new { |h,k| h[k] = [] }
-    @logger = LogStash::Logger.new(STDERR)
   end # def initialize
 
   def register
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/field.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/field.rb
index 4ccefc284..caf2fd16d 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/field.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/field.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
+require "logstash/filters/base"
 require "ostruct"
 
-class LogStash::Filters::Field
+class LogStash::Filters::Field < LogStash::Filters::Base
   class EvalSpace < OpenStruct
     def get_binding
       return binding
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Field
   end
 
   def initialize(config = {})
-    @config = config
+    super
   end # def initialize
 
   def register
@@ -26,4 +26,4 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Field
     end
     event.cancel
   end
-end # class LogStash::Filters::Grok
+end # class LogStash::Filters::Field
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/grok.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/grok.rb
index e5e815921..4db8face2 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/grok.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/grok.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/logging"
+require "logstash/filters/base"
 
 gem "jls-grok", ">=0.2.3071"
 require "grok" # rubygem 'jls-grok'
 
-class LogStash::Filters::Grok
+class LogStash::Filters::Grok < LogStash::Filters::Base
   def initialize(config = {})
-    @logger = LogStash::Logger.new(STDERR)
-    @config = config
+    super
+
     @grokpiles = {}
   end # def initialize
 
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Grok
         end # @grokpiles.include?(tag)
       end # event.tags.each
     else 
+      # TODO(2.0): support grok pattern discovery
       #pattern = @grok.discover(message)
       #@grok.compile(pattern)
       #match = @grok.match(message)
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Grok
     else
       # Tag this event if we can't parse it. We can use this later to
       # reparse+reindex logs if we improve the patterns given .
-      event.tags << "grokparsefailure"
+      event.tags << "_grokparsefailure"
     end
   end # def filter
 end # class LogStash::Filters::Grok
diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/amqp.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/amqp.rb
index 84f2e398c..bac07a185 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/amqp.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/amqp.rb
@@ -1,18 +1,14 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/inputs/base"
 require "amqp" # rubygem 'amqp'
 require "mq" # rubygem 'amqp'
 require "uuidtools" # rubygem 'uuidtools'
 
-class LogStash::Inputs::Amqp
+class LogStash::Inputs::Amqp < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   TYPES = [ "fanout", "queue", "topic" ]
 
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
-    @callback = block
+    super
+
     @mq = nil
 
     # Handle path /<type>/<name>
@@ -22,7 +18,7 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Amqp
     end
 
     if !TYPES.include?(@type)
-      raise "Invalid type '#{@type}' must be one 'fanout' or 'queue'"
+      raise "Invalid type '#{@type}' must be one of #{TYPES.JOIN(", ")}"
     end
   end
 
@@ -48,16 +44,4 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Amqp
       header.ack
     end
   end # def register
-
-  # TODO(sissel): Refactor this into a general 'input' class
-  # tag this input
-  public
-  def tag(newtag)
-    @tags << newtag
-  end
-
-  def receive(event)
-    event.tags |= @tags # set union
-    @callback.call(event)
-  end # def event
 end # class LogStash::Inputs::Amqp
diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..542d0686c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+require "logstash/namespace"
+require "logstash/event"
+require "logstash/logging"
+require "uri"
+
+class LogStash::Inputs::Base
+  def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
+    @logger = LogStash::Logger.new(STDERR)
+    @url = url
+    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
+    @config = config
+    @callback = block
+    @tags = []
+  end
+
+  def register
+    throw "#{self.class}#register must be overidden"
+  end
+
+  def tag(newtag)
+    @tags << newtag
+  end
+
+  def receive(event)
+    event.tags |= @tags # set union
+    @callback.call(event)
+  end
+end # class LogStash::Inputs::Base
diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/file.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/file.rb
index 78cf2e93c..21130a8b8 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/file.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/file.rb
@@ -1,40 +1,21 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
+require "logstash/inputs/base"
 require "eventmachine-tail"
-require "uri"
 require "socket" # for Socket.gethostname
 
-class LogStash::Inputs::File
+class LogStash::Inputs::File < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @logger = Logger.new(STDERR)
-
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
+    super
 
     # Hack the hostname into the url.
     # This works since file:// urls don't generally have a host in it.
     @url.host = Socket.gethostname
-
-    @config = config
-    @callback = block
-    @tags = []
   end
 
-  public
   def register
     EventMachine::FileGlobWatchTail.new(@url.path, Reader, interval=60,
                                         exclude=[], receiver=self)
   end
 
-  # TODO(sissel): Refactor this into a general 'input' class
-  # tag this input
-  public
-  def tag(newtag)
-    @logger.debug("Adding tag #{newtag} to #{@url}")
-    @tags << newtag
-  end
-
-  public
   def receive(event)
     event = LogStash::Event.new({
       "@source" => @url.to_s,
@@ -44,7 +25,6 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::File
     @callback.call(event)
   end # def event
 
-  private
   class Reader < EventMachine::FileTail
     def initialize(path, receiver)
       super(path)
@@ -53,7 +33,7 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::File
     end
 
     def receive_data(data)
-      # TODO(sissel): Support multiline log data
+      # TODO(2.0): Support multiline log data
       @buffer.extract(data).each do |line|
         @receiver.receive(line)
       end
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/amqp.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/amqp.rb
index 3ffbb7601..73cb8ca34 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/outputs/amqp.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/amqp.rb
@@ -1,16 +1,11 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/outputs/base"
 require "amqp" # rubygem 'amqp'
 require "mq" # rubygem 'amqp'
 
-class LogStash::Outputs::Amqp
+class LogStash::Outputs::Amqp < LogStash::Outputs::Base
   TYPES = [ "fanout", "queue", "topic" ]
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
-    @mq = nil
+    super
 
     # Handle path /<type>/<name>
     unused, @type, @name = @url.path.split("/", 3)
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/base.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ca5fd2f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+require "logstash/namespace"
+require "logstash/event"
+require "uri"
+
+class LogStash::Outputs::Base
+  def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
+    @url = url
+    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
+    @config = config
+  end
+
+  def register
+    throw "#{self.class}#register must be overidden"
+  end # def register
+
+  def receive(event)
+    throw "#{self.class}#receive must be overidden"
+  end
+end # class LogStash::Outputs::Base
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch.rb
index 19cd871cb..c2fa972c9 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/outputs/base"
 require "em-http-request"
 
-class LogStash::Outputs::Elasticsearch
+class LogStash::Outputs::Elasticsearch < LogStash::Outputs::Base
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
+    super
   end
 
   def register
@@ -19,7 +15,6 @@ class LogStash::Outputs::Elasticsearch
   end # def register
 
   def receive(event)
-    #http = EventMachine::HttpRequest.new(@httpurl.to_s).post :body => event.to_json
     req = @http.post :body => event.to_json
     req.errback do
       $stderr.puts "Request to index to #{@httpurl.to_s} failed. Event was #{event.to_s}"
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/mongodb.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/mongodb.rb
index 441752549..290ff10cf 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/outputs/mongodb.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/mongodb.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/outputs/base"
 require "em-mongo"
 
-class LogStash::Outputs::Mongodb
+class LogStash::Outputs::Mongodb < LogStash::Outputs::Base
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
+    super
   end
 
   def register
@@ -18,7 +14,6 @@ class LogStash::Outputs::Mongodb
   end # def register
 
   def receive(event)
-    puts "Got: #{event}"
     @mongodb.collection("events").insert(event.to_hash)
   end # def event
-end # class LogStash::Outputs::Websocket
+end # class LogStash::Outputs::Mongodb
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/stdout.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/stdout.rb
index 689c4f8a1..07e797804 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/outputs/stdout.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/stdout.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/outputs/base"
 
-class LogStash::Outputs::Stdout
+class LogStash::Outputs::Stdout < LogStash::Outputs::Base
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
+    super
   end
 
   def register
diff --git a/lib/logstash/outputs/websocket.rb b/lib/logstash/outputs/websocket.rb
index da0047877..54445391b 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/outputs/websocket.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/outputs/websocket.rb
@@ -1,17 +1,12 @@
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/event"
-require "uri"
+require "logstash/outputs/base"
 require "em-websocket" # rubygem 'em-websocket'
 
-class LogStash::Outputs::Websocket
+class LogStash::Outputs::Websocket < LogStash::Outputs::Base
   def initialize(url, config={}, &block)
-    @url = url
-    @url = URI.parse(url) if url.is_a? String
-    @config = config
+    super
   end
 
   def register
-    puts "register"
     @channel = EventMachine::Channel.new
     host = (@url.host or "0.0.0.0")
     port = (@url.port or 3000)
diff --git a/logstash.gemspec b/logstash.gemspec
index d168bf34d..04ccfdc6b 100644
--- a/logstash.gemspec
+++ b/logstash.gemspec
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.description = "None yet"
   spec.add_dependency("eventmachine-tail")
   spec.add_dependency("jls-grok", ">= 0.2.3071")
+  spec.add_dependency("awesome_print")
+  spec.add_dependency("json")
 
   # TODO: In the future, make these optional
   # for websocket://