diff --git a/bin/ansible b/bin/ansible
index 4254b0b7fb..92316fcd67 100755
--- a/bin/ansible
+++ b/bin/ansible
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class Cli(object):
             )
         else:
             return ansible.playbook.PlayBook(
+                playbook=options.playbook,
                 module_path=options.module_path,
                 remote_user=options.remote_user,
                 remote_pass=sshpass,
diff --git a/examples/playbook.yml b/examples/playbook.yml
index 7b5ec9c5c4..8a4cf19aef 100644
--- a/examples/playbook.yml
+++ b/examples/playbook.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-- pattern: '*.prod.example.com'
+- pattern: '*'
   tasks:
   - do:
-    - update apache (note: service module TBD)
+    - update apache
     - command
     - [/usr/bin/yum, update, apache]
     onchange:
     - do:
-      - restart apache (note: service module TBD)
+      - restart apache
       - command
       - [/sbin/service, apache, restart]
     - do:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook.py b/lib/ansible/playbook.py
index fa6c27731e..e8bb15d9c4 100755
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook.py
@@ -30,7 +30,13 @@ import yaml
 class PlayBook(object):
     ''' 
     runs an ansible playbook, given as a datastructure
-    or YAML filename
+    or YAML filename.  a playbook is a deployment, config
+    management, or automation based set of commands to
+    run in series.
+
+    multiple patterns do not execute simultaneously,
+    but tasks in each pattern do execute in parallel
+    according to the number of forks requested.
     '''
 
     def __init__(self, 
@@ -44,31 +50,116 @@ class PlayBook(object):
         verbose=False):
 
         # runner is reused between calls
-
-        self.runner = ansible.runner.Runner(
-            host_list=host_list,
-            module_path=module_path,
-            forks=forks,
-            timeout=timeout,
-            remote_user=remote_user,
-            remote_pass=remote_pass,
-            verbose=verbose
-        )
+ 
+        self.host_list   = host_list
+        self.module_path = module_path
+        self.forks       = forks
+        self.timeout     = timeout
+        self.remote_user = remote_user
+        self.remote_pass = remote_pass
+        self.verbose     = verbose
 
         if type(playbook) == str:
             playbook = yaml.load(file(playbook).read())
-
+        self.playbook = playbook
+        
     def run(self):
-        pass
+        ''' run against all patterns in the playbook '''
+
+        for pattern in self.playbook:
+            self._run_pattern(pattern)
+        return "complete"
+
+    def _get_task_runner(self, 
+        pattern=None, 
+        host_list=None,
+        module_name=None, 
+        module_args=None):
+
+        print "GET TASK RUNNER FOR HL=%s" % host_list
+
+        ''' 
+        return a runner suitable for running this task, using
+        preferences from the constructor 
+        '''
+
+        if host_list is None:
+           host_list = self.host_list
+
+        return ansible.runner.Runner(
+            pattern=pattern,
+            module_name=module_name,
+            module_args=module_args,
+            host_list=host_list,
+            forks=self.forks,
+            remote_user=self.remote_user,
+            remote_pass=self.remote_pass,
+            module_path=self.module_path,
+            timeout=self.timeout
+        )
+
+    def _run_task(self, pattern, task, host_list=None):
+        ''' 
+        run a single task in the playbook and
+        recursively run any subtasks.
+        '''
+
+        if host_list is None:
+           host_list = self.host_list
+
+        print "TASK=%s" % task
+        instructions = task['do']
+        (comment, module_name, module_args) = instructions
+        print "running task: (%s) on hosts matching (%s)" % (comment, pattern)
+        runner = self._get_task_runner(
+            pattern=pattern, 
+            module_name=module_name,
+            module_args=module_args
+        )
+        results = runner.run()
+        print "RESULTS=%s" % results
+ 
+        dark = results.get("dark", [])
+        contacted = results.get("contacted", [])
+
+        # TODO: filter based on values that indicate
+        # they have changed events to emulate Puppet
+        # 'notify' behavior, super easy -- just
+        # a list comprehension -- but we need complaint
+        # modules first
+
+        ok_hosts = contacted.keys()
+
+        for host, msg in dark.items():
+            print "contacting %s failed -- %s" % (host, msg)
+
+        subtasks = task.get('onchange', [])
+        if len(subtasks) > 0:
+            print "the following hosts have registered change events"
+            print ok_hosts
+            for subtask in subtasks:
+                self._run_task(pattern, subtask, ok_hosts)
+
+        # TODO: if a host fails in task 1, add it to an excludes
+        # list such that no other tasks in the list ever execute
+        # unlike Puppet, do not allow partial failure of the tree
+        # and continuing as far as possible.  Fail fast.
+
+
+    def _run_pattern(self, pg):
+        '''
+        run a list of tasks for a given pattern, in order
+        '''
+
+        pattern = pg['pattern']
+        tasks   = pg['tasks']
+        print "PATTERN=%s" % pattern
+        print "TASKS=%s" % tasks
+        for task in tasks:
+            print "*** RUNNING A TASK (%s)***" % task
+            self._run_task(pattern, task)
+
 
-#    r = Runner(
-#       host_list = DEFAULT_HOST_LIST,
-#       module_name='ping',
-#       module_args='',
-#       pattern='*',
-#       forks=3
-#    )   
-#    print r.run()