diff --git a/ical_aggregator/drupal_submit.py b/ical_aggregator/drupal_submit.py
index 6d26839..eeed57b 100755
--- a/ical_aggregator/drupal_submit.py
+++ b/ical_aggregator/drupal_submit.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import random
 import hmac
 import hashlib
 import datetime
+import dateutil.parser
 
 AUTH_FILE = "stadtgestalten_auth.conf"
 
@@ -43,12 +44,17 @@ def send_xmlrpc_request(server, session, api_key, api_domain, method, args=[]):
 
 
 def generate_node(title, body, username, time_start, time_finish=None, time_duration_minutes=None):
+	# parse "time_start", if necessary
+	if isinstance(time_start, basestring):
+		time_start = dateutil.parser.parse(time_start)
 	# calculate "time_finish" if it is not defined
 	if time_finish is None:
 		if time_duration_minutes is None:
 			time_finish = time_start + datetime.timedelta(hours=2)
 		else:
 			time_finish = time_start + time_duration_minutes
+	elif isinstance(time_finish, basestring):
+		time_finish = dateutil.parser.parse(time_finish)
 	return {'type': 'termin',
 			'title': title,
 			'body': body,
diff --git a/ical_aggregator/ical_aggregator.py b/ical_aggregator/ical_aggregator.py
index 0f94eae..9c625d9 100755
--- a/ical_aggregator/ical_aggregator.py
+++ b/ical_aggregator/ical_aggregator.py
@@ -105,7 +105,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
 	icals = []
 	for ical_url in ical_urls:
-		icals.extend(fetch_ical(ical_url))
+		# ignore lines starting with "#"
+		if not ical_url.startswith("#"):
+			icals.extend(fetch_ical(ical_url))
 	
 	for event in icals:
 		if not get_unique_id(event) in finished_items: