my @dispatch_table = (
  {
    re => qr/^(?!START:|END:)([^*: ][^:]+):(.+)\n/,
    action => \&header,
  },
  {
    re => qr/^START:\s*(.+)\n/,
    action => sub { $_[0]->{starttime} = $_[1] },
  },
  {
    re => qr/^END:\s*(.+)\n/,
    action => sub { $_[0]->{endtime}   = $_[1] },
  },
  {
    re => qr/^(?:\* |  )([^:]+):(\d+):(.+)\n/,
    action => sub { push @{shift->{items}}, \@_ },
  },
);

##</code><code>##

foreach my $h (@dispatch_table) {
  if (my @m = $line =~ $h->{re}) {
    $h->{action}->($r, @m);
    # or $h->{action}->($r, @m, $h->{args});
    next LINE;
  }
}