diff --git a/templates/zephyr/index.html b/templates/zephyr/index.html
index a5ac5e3859..a10a9448ec 100644
--- a/templates/zephyr/index.html
+++ b/templates/zephyr/index.html
@@ -8,29 +8,15 @@
 
 <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/jquery/jquery.form.js"></script>
 <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/zephyr.js"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript">
+var initial_zephyr_json = {{ zephyr_json }};
+</script>
 
 <div class="row-fluid">
 <div id="main_div" class="span12">
 <table id="table">
-{% for zephyr in zephyrs %}
-<tr id={{ zephyr.id }}>
-<td class="pointer">{% if user_profile.pointer == zephyr.id %}<p id="selected">&#x25b6;{% else %}<p>{% endif %}</p></td>
-<td class="zephyr">
-<p>
-
-{% if zephyr.recipient.type == 'class' %}
-<span onclick="narrow('{{ zephyr.display_recipient }}', '{{ zephyr.id }}')" class="label zephyr_label_clickable zephyr_class">{{ zephyr.display_recipient }}</span>
-<span onclick="narrow_instance('{{ zephyr.display_recipient }}', '{{ zephyr.instance }}', '{{ zephyr.id }}')" class="label zephyr_label_clickable zephyr_instance">{{ zephyr.instance }}</span>
-{% else %}
-<span onclick="narrow_personals('{{ zephyr.id }}')" class="label zephyr_label_clickable zephyr_personal_recipient">{{ zephyr.display_recipient }}</span>
-&larr;
-{% endif %}
-
-<span onclick="prepare_personal('{{ zephyr.sender.user.username }}')" class="label zephyr_label_clickable zephyr_sender">{{ zephyr.sender.user.username }}</span><br />
-{{ zephyr.content|linebreaksbr }}
-</p></td>
-</tr>
-{% endfor %}
+<tr><td class="pointer"><p id="selected">&#x25b6;</p></td><td>dummy row, FIXME</td></tr>
+{# Zephyrs go here #}
 </table>
 </div>
 </div>
diff --git a/zephyr/models.py b/zephyr/models.py
index a6c13d06ce..315cbf0d04 100644
--- a/zephyr/models.py
+++ b/zephyr/models.py
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ class Zephyr(models.Model):
         display_recipient = get_display_recipient(self.recipient)
         return "<Zephyr: %s / %s / %r>" % (display_recipient, self.instance, self.sender)
 
+    def to_dict(self):
+        return {'id'               : self.id,
+                'sender'           : self.sender.user.username,
+                'type'             : self.recipient.type,
+                'display_recipient': get_display_recipient(self.recipient),
+                'instance'         : self.instance,
+                'content'          : self.content }
+
 def send_zephyr(**kwargs):
     zephyr = kwargs["instance"]
     if zephyr.recipient.type == "personal":
diff --git a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
index b195359068..e8c0c2b345 100644
--- a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
+++ b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
@@ -257,6 +257,10 @@ function add_message(index, zephyr) {
     $("#table tr:last").after(new_str);
 }
 
+$(function() {
+  $(initial_zephyr_json).each(add_message);
+});
+
 function get_updates_longpoll(data) {
     if (data && data.zephyrs) {
 	$.each(data.zephyrs, add_message);
diff --git a/zephyr/views.py b/zephyr/views.py
index 9871dcc7e9..5ff25fae32 100644
--- a/zephyr/views.py
+++ b/zephyr/views.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ from django.shortcuts import render
 from django.utils.timezone import utc
 
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
-from zephyr.models import Zephyr, UserProfile, ZephyrClass, Recipient, get_display_recipient, filter_by_subscriptions
+from zephyr.models import Zephyr, UserProfile, ZephyrClass, Subscription, \
+    Recipient, filter_by_subscriptions
 from zephyr.forms import RegistrationForm
 
 import tornado.web
@@ -44,15 +45,16 @@ def home(request):
         return HttpResponseRedirect('accounts/home/')
 
     zephyrs = filter_by_subscriptions(Zephyr.objects.all(), request.user)
-    for zephyr in zephyrs:
-        zephyr.display_recipient = get_display_recipient(zephyr.recipient)
 
     user = request.user
     user_profile = UserProfile.objects.get(user=user)
     if user_profile.pointer == -1 and zephyrs:
         user_profile.pointer = min([zephyr.id for zephyr in zephyrs])
         user_profile.save()
-    return render_to_response('zephyr/index.html', {'zephyrs': zephyrs, 'user_profile': user_profile},
+    zephyr_json = simplejson.dumps([zephyr.to_dict() for zephyr in zephyrs])
+    return render_to_response('zephyr/index.html',
+                              {'zephyr_json' : zephyr_json,
+                               'user_profile': user_profile },
                               context_instance=RequestContext(request))
 
 def update(request):
@@ -83,17 +85,8 @@ def get_updates_longpoll(request, handler):
     def on_receive(zephyrs):
         if handler.request.connection.stream.closed():
             return
-        new_zephyr_list = []
-        for zephyr in zephyrs:
-            new_zephyr_list.append({"id": zephyr.id,
-                                    "sender": zephyr.sender.user.username,
-                                    "display_recipient": get_display_recipient(zephyr.recipient),
-                                    "type": zephyr.recipient.type,
-                                    "instance": zephyr.instance,
-                                    "content": zephyr.content
-                                    })
         try:
-            handler.finish({'zephyrs': new_zephyr_list})
+            handler.finish({'zephyrs': [zephyr.to_dict() for zephyr in zephyrs]})
         except socket.error, e:
             pass