diff --git a/zipline/core/interpreter.py b/zipline/core/interpreter.py
index f36f5661..6bcd4eed 100644
--- a/zipline/core/interpreter.py
+++ b/zipline/core/interpreter.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import yaml
 import argparse
 import fileinput
 from cStringIO import StringIO
+from zipline.utils.date_utils import EPOCH, date_to_datetime
 
 def interpret(args):
     print 'Reading {ifile}'.format(ifile=args.file)
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ def interpret(args):
     metadata  = StringIO()
     algorithm = StringIO()
 
-    for line in fileinput.input(sys.argv[1]):
+    for line in fileinput.input(args.file):
         if line.startswith('---'):
             if metastart:
                 metastart = False
@@ -45,18 +46,28 @@ def interpret(args):
     except StopIteration:
         raise RuntimeError("No metadata in file.")
 
-    start = meta['start']
-    end   = meta['end']
+    algocode = algorithm.getvalue()
+
+    start = meta['start_date']
+    end   = meta['end_date']
+
+    meta['start_date'] = EPOCH(date_to_datetime(start))
+    meta['end_date']   = EPOCH(date_to_datetime(end))
+    meta['algocode']   = algocode
 
     print end - start
 
     ns = {}
-    exec(algorithm.getvalue()) in ns
+
+    # -- Sanity check --
+    exec(algocode) in ns
 
     assert ns['initialize']
     assert ns['get_sid_filter']
     assert ns['handle_data']
 
+    return algocode, meta
+
 def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     parser.add_argument('file', metavar='file', help='Algorithm file.')
diff --git a/zipline/utils/date_utils.py b/zipline/utils/date_utils.py
index 3ac53bdd..b79c2a13 100644
--- a/zipline/utils/date_utils.py
+++ b/zipline/utils/date_utils.py
@@ -128,3 +128,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     for day in trading_days(now, now30):
         print day
     print time.time() - tic
+
+def date_to_datetime(t):
+    dt = datetime.fromordinal(t.toordinal())
+    dt = dt.replace(tzinfo = pytz.utc)
+    return dt
diff --git a/zipline/utils/protocol_utils.py b/zipline/utils/protocol_utils.py
index c0b7ad16..7149a7c1 100644
--- a/zipline/utils/protocol_utils.py
+++ b/zipline/utils/protocol_utils.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ class ndict(MutableMapping):
         self.__internal.update(other_nd.__internal)
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return "namedict: " + str(self.__internal)
+        return "ndict(%s)" % str(self.__internal)
 
     # Faster dictionary comparison?
     #def __eq__(self, other):