diff --git a/econtext/core.py b/econtext/core.py
index a62e45f8..62ce85ad 100644
--- a/econtext/core.py
+++ b/econtext/core.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ class Channel(object):
         Receive an object from the remote, or return ``None`` if `timeout` is
         reached.
         """
-        LOG.debug('%r.Receive(%r)', self, timeout)
+        LOG.debug('%r.Receive(timeout=%r)', self, timeout)
         try:
             data = self._queue.get(True, timeout)
         except Queue.Empty:
@@ -394,11 +394,10 @@ class Stream(BasicStream):
         Enqueue `obj` to `handle`, and tell the broker we have output.
         """
         LOG.debug('%r.Enqueue(%r, %r)', self, handle, obj)
-        encoded = self.Pickle((handle, obj))
-        msg = struct.pack('>L', len(encoded)) + encoded
-
         self._lock.acquire()
         try:
+            encoded = self.Pickle((handle, obj))
+            msg = struct.pack('>L', len(encoded)) + encoded
             self._whmac.update(msg)
             self._output_buf += self._whmac.digest() + msg
         finally:
@@ -721,7 +720,7 @@ class Broker(object):
     """
     _waker = None
 
-    def __init__(self, log_level=logging.DEBUG):
+    def __init__(self, log_level=logging.INFO):
         self.log_level = log_level
 
         self._alive = True
@@ -743,15 +742,19 @@ class Broker(object):
 
     def _UpdateStream(self, stream):
         LOG.debug('_UpdateStream(%r)', stream)
-        if stream.ReadMore() and stream.read_side.fileno():
-            self._readers.add(stream.read_side)
-        else:
-            self._readers.discard(stream.read_side)
+        self._lock.acquire()
+        try:
+            if stream.ReadMore() and stream.read_side.fileno():
+                self._readers.add(stream.read_side)
+            else:
+                self._readers.discard(stream.read_side)
 
-        if stream.WriteMore() and stream.write_side.fileno():
-            self._writers.add(stream.write_side)
-        else:
-            self._writers.discard(stream.write_side)
+            if stream.WriteMore() and stream.write_side.fileno():
+                self._writers.add(stream.write_side)
+            else:
+                self._writers.discard(stream.write_side)
+        finally:
+            self._lock.release()
 
     def UpdateStream(self, stream):
         LOG.debug('UpdateStream(%r)', stream)
@@ -867,7 +870,7 @@ class ExternalContext(object):
                 klass.__module__ = 'econtext.core'
 
     def _SetupLogging(self, log_level):
-        logging.basicConfig(level=log_level)
+        logging.basicConfig(level=log_level, filename='slave.txt')
         logging.getLogger('').handlers[0].formatter = Formatter(False)
 
     def _ReapFirstStage(self):
@@ -921,9 +924,10 @@ class ExternalContext(object):
         self._SetupMaster(key)
         self._SetupImporter()
         #self._SetupStdio()
-        fd = open('/dev/null', 'w')
-        os.dup2(fd.fileno(), 1)
-        os.dup2(fd.fileno(), 2)
+        if 0:
+            fd = open('/dev/null', 'w')
+            os.dup2(fd.fileno(), 1)
+            os.dup2(fd.fileno(), 2)
 
         self.broker.Register(self.context)
         self._DispatchCalls()