--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/python/logoutput.py	Fri Sep 06 17:11:33 2013 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+"""
+execute a command and log its output to a file
+"""
+
+import sys
+from subprocess import list2cmdline, STDOUT
+from subprocess import check_output as call
+
+def main(args=sys.argv[1:]):
+    """CLI"""
+
+    usage = '%prog outputfile command [args]'
+    usage += '\n' + __doc__
+    if args < 2:
+        print 'Usage: ' + usage
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    path = args.pop(0)
+    commandline = list2cmdline(args)
+
+    with file(path, 'w') as w:
+        output = call(args, stderr=STDOUT)
+        w.write('\n\n'.join([commandline, output]))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()