diff --git a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogConsole.cs b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogConsole.cs
index 460d467d6d..80e7db806b 100644
--- a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogConsole.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogConsole.cs
@@ -1,40 +1,110 @@
 using System;
+using System.Text;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 
+//todo - quit using Console.WriteLine (well, we can leave it hooked up as a backstop)
+//use a different method instead, so we can collect unicode data
+//also, collect log data independently of whether the log window is open
+//we also need to dice it into lines so that we can have a backlog policy
+
 namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 {
     static class LogConsole
     {
-        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
-        static extern bool AllocConsole();
-
-        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
-        static extern bool FreeConsole();
-        
         public static bool ConsoleVisible 
         { 
             get; 
             private set; 
         }
 
+		static LogWindow window;
+		static LogStream logStream;
+		static StringBuilder sbLog;
+
+		class LogStream : Stream
+		{
+			public LogStream()
+			{
+			}
+
+			public override bool CanRead { get { return false; } }
+			public override bool CanSeek { get { return false; } }
+			public override bool CanWrite { get { return true; } }
+
+			public override void Flush()
+			{
+				//TODO - maybe this will help with decoding
+			}
+
+			public override long Length
+			{
+				get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
+			}
+
+			public override long Position
+			{
+				get
+				{
+					throw new NotImplementedException();
+				}
+				set
+				{
+					throw new NotImplementedException();
+				}
+			}
+
+			public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
+			{
+				throw new NotImplementedException();
+			}
+
+			public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
+			{
+				throw new NotImplementedException();
+			}
+
+			public override void SetLength(long value)
+			{
+				throw new NotImplementedException();
+			}
+
+			public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
+			{
+				//TODO - buffer undecoded characters (this may be important)
+				//(use decoder = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetDecoder())
+				string str = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer, offset, count);
+				if (Emit != null)
+					Emit(str);
+			}
+
+			public Action<string> Emit;
+		}
+
         public static void ShowConsole()
         {
             if (ConsoleVisible) return;
-            AllocConsole();
-            ConsoleVisible = true;
-            var sout = new StreamWriter(Console.OpenStandardOutput()) {AutoFlush = true};
-            Console.SetOut(sout);
-            Console.Title = "BizHawk Message Log";
-            
+			ConsoleVisible = true;
+
+			logStream = new LogStream();
+			var sout = new StreamWriter(logStream) { AutoFlush = true };
+			Console.SetOut(sout);
+			window = new LogWindow();
+			window.Show();
+			sbLog = new StringBuilder(); //not using this right now
+			logStream.Emit = (str) => { window.Append(str); };
         }
 
         public static void HideConsole()
         {
             if (ConsoleVisible == false) return;
-            FreeConsole();
-            Console.SetOut(TextWriter.Null);
-            ConsoleVisible = false;
+			window.Dispose();
+			logStream.Dispose();
+			logStream = null;
+			window = null;
+			
+			Console.SetOut(TextWriter.Null);
+			ConsoleVisible = false;
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.Designer.cs b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.Designer.cs
index 92b810a7ef..eccfd870f9 100644
--- a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.Designer.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.Designer.cs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 			// 
 			// btnClose
 			// 
-			this.btnClose.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(590, 3);
+			this.btnClose.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(618, 3);
 			this.btnClose.Name = "btnClose";
 			this.btnClose.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
 			this.btnClose.TabIndex = 2;
@@ -70,25 +70,26 @@
 			this.tableLayoutPanel1.Name = "tableLayoutPanel1";
 			this.tableLayoutPanel1.RowCount = 1;
 			this.tableLayoutPanel1.RowStyles.Add(new System.Windows.Forms.RowStyle(System.Windows.Forms.SizeType.Percent, 100F));
-			this.tableLayoutPanel1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(668, 29);
+			this.tableLayoutPanel1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(696, 29);
 			this.tableLayoutPanel1.TabIndex = 5;
 			// 
 			// textBox1
 			// 
 			this.textBox1.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill;
+			this.textBox1.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("Lucida Console", 8.25F, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Regular, System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point, ((byte)(0)));
 			this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
 			this.textBox1.Multiline = true;
 			this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
 			this.textBox1.ReadOnly = true;
 			this.textBox1.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.ScrollBars.Vertical;
-			this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(668, 273);
+			this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(696, 273);
 			this.textBox1.TabIndex = 6;
 			// 
 			// LogWindow
 			// 
 			this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
 			this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
-			this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(668, 302);
+			this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(696, 302);
 			this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
 			this.Controls.Add(this.tableLayoutPanel1);
 			this.Name = "LogWindow";
diff --git a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.cs b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.cs
index 1316a0405c..c9a101b892 100644
--- a/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.MultiClient/LogWindow.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Windows.Forms;
 
+//todo - perks - pause, copy to clipboard, backlog length limiting
+
 namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 {
 	public partial class LogWindow : Form
@@ -24,9 +26,31 @@ namespace BizHawk.MultiClient
 			ShowDialog();
 		}
 
+		public void ShowConsole()
+		{
+			Show();
+		}
+
+		public void SetLogText(string str)
+		{
+			textBox1.Text = str;
+			textBox1.SelectionStart = str.Length;
+			textBox1.ScrollToCaret();
+			Refresh();
+		}
+
+		StringBuilder sbLog = new StringBuilder();
+		public void Append(string str)
+		{
+			sbLog.Append(str);
+			SetLogText(sbLog.ToString());
+		}
+
 		private void btnClear_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
 		{
-
+			sbLog.Length = 0;
+			SetLogText("");
+			Refresh();
 		}
 
 		private void btnClose_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)