1.8.1 release stuatus update

[Andrew Phillips]

Quick heads-up about this: it's taken a little longer to get this  
kicked off than hoped for - thanks especially to Adrian for helping  
fix a bunch of small issues.

I'm aiming to get the vote email out at some point tomorrow, with (if  
things go well) the release going to Central by the second half of  
next week.

Regards

ap