O Clock

Opponent: Carolina MonarchsSite: Baltimore ArenaTime: 7: 30Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WASA (1330 AM)Outlook: The Monarchs and Bandits should get to know each other real well over the next several hours. This evening's game will be followed by a 1 o'clock matchup tomorrow afternoon. Carolina laid a 12-1 thumping on the Bandits the last time they met two weeks ago. The home team has won all six games in the series, the Bandits prevailing here, 3-2, 4-1 and 2-1. Carolina has lost 12 straight on the road.

Lotfy Nathan spent some five years putting together his film about West Baltimore's dirt-bike culture. Now, with national acclaim for "12 O'clock Boys" promising to turn it into one of the year's breakout documentaries after a February premiere at the South by Southwest arts festival in Austin, Texas, he's happily basking in the acclaim. "The reception in Austin was incredible," Nathan said last week from Toronto, where the film was being shown at the annual Hot Docs festival. "It was more than I could have asked for. " This week, a distribution deal with independent film distributors Oscilloscope Laboratories safely in hand, the Maryland Institute College of Art -educated Nathan is bringing his film home.

From The Sun Aug. 6-12, 1845* Aug. 6: We understand that a shark measuring seven feet and a half in length was caught yesterday by Mr. Coath, of the Lower House, Canton.* Aug. 7: A gentleman from Harford County informs us that about 28 negroes ran away from several farms in the neighborhood of Havre de Grace yesterday.From The Sun Aug. 6-12, 1895* Aug. 6: At 8 o'clock Sunday night, Berlin, in Worcester County, was one of the most thriving towns of its size on the Eastern Shore. At 1 o'clock this morning the heart of the town, stretching about eight acres and containing practically all the business-houses in the town, was a heap of hot and smoking ashes.

When “12 O'Clock Boys” director Lotfy Nathan brought his film to this month's South by Southwest film festival, one of his main goals was to find distribution for the documentary. Nathan didn't have to wait long, as deadline.com reported this week that Oscilloscope Laboratories had purchased the North American rights to Nathan's documentary on the West Baltimore dirt-bike riders. Oscilloscope, which was co-founded by deceased Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, is considered a boutique film company.

Get this guy a scheduleIn one of his final news conferences before his first game, Dick MacPherson, the new coach of the New England Patriots, was talking about what he had tried to accomplish in the preseason."

Picture this set: A semi-shabby, fairly messy living room, couch in the center, door to the outside on the left, stairway in back, door to kitchen, the show's only other locale, on right.If that doesn't ring a bell, put a fairly rotund mother in there as the central character who plays against the media stereotype by still being passionately in love with her husband despite the lack of a model's stick figure. Now surround her with some sassy kids who give as good as they get.Sound familiar?

From The Sun Jan. 10-16, 1843Jan. 11: The Eastern Mail, due in this city yesterday afternoon at half-past two o'clock, in consequence of an accident which occurred to the locomotive, was delayed nearly four hours, arriving here at twenty minutes past six o'clock.Jan. 12: A young lady in Mobile, a few nights ago, dreamt that her lover had snatched from her a rapturous and burning kiss. She immediately awoke and found a rat nibbling at her lips.From The Sun Jan. 10-16, 1893Jan. 11: The Carroll County jail has contained not nearly so many tramps this winter as in former years.

Look, we all know that you can't judge a show by its ratings. Some of the best are down at the bottom of the Nielsens and some of the worst rise to the top. You should judge a show according to your own taste and critical sensibilities, not just flow with the crowd to whatever's popular.That said, there is still an undeniable intrigue to the ratings races that the networks run every year, the scheduling and strategies, the syncopated counter-programming of a female-appeal movie up against "Monday Night Football," the in-your-face challenge of a "Simpsons" up against "The Cosby Show."

For several years, the best television on Tuesday nights has been PBS' intelligent, insightful combination of the science series "Nova" at 8 o'clock, followed by the documentaries of "Frontline."Though it's up against a bit stronger opposition, the argument can certainly be made that PBS offers the best series programming on Monday nights these days with the duo of "Travels" and "The American Experience." Though both are relatively new to the PBS schedule, in a couple of years they have established a track record that makes them of near don't-miss quality.

We're ending one of our longest road trips of the season, and travel in baseball is not as glamorous as fans believe. Life on the road has changed over the years from when I first broke in. It seems back then that the team was closer knit as a unit. They would do more activities together on a road trip.There were more day games, so it consisted of everybody meeting somewhere for dinner as well as fraternizing at the local watering holes. Now it's quite a bit different because of a lot of different factors.

Lotfy Nathan never figured he'd connect with the 12 O'clock Boys, a West Baltimore dirt-bike gang whose culture he was hoping to capture on film. At best, he figured to end up with a documentary about trying to track down the group, and having little luck at it. Fortunately for Nathan, it didn't work out that way. "It was surprising to me that I was able to sort-of breach the group," says Nathan, whose "12 O'clock Boys" will be getting its world premiere at the South by Southwest arts festival in Austin, Tex., next month.

Katie Couric's visit last week to Baltimore's WMAR proved at least one thing: She is serious about making her new daytime talk show, “Katie,” a winner. She did not do such intense promotion in the summer of 2006 even when she was about to debut as anchor of the “CBS Evening News," one of the most prestigious -- or at least historic -- jobs in television. And that kind of commitment from her means the competition in one of the most hotly contested time periods in local TV is going to be even fiercer this fall when her syndicated show debuts.

The name of Bernard Augustine DeVoto, the distinguished historian of the American West, literary critic and author, isn't on the lips of most people these days. It's probably squadrons of graduate students in American history who annually blow the dust off his "Across the Wide Missouri," which bagged him a Pulitzer back in 1948, or his other historical efforts, "The Year of Decision: 1846" and "The Course of Empire," which keep his reputation somewhat alive. DeVoto loomed widely across the American literary scene for nearly 40 years, and for 25 of them edited "The Easy Chair" column for Harper's.

THE PROBLEM -- A clock and carillon bells atop a memorial tower near York Road and Woodbourne Avenue in Govans have not worked for many years. THE BACKSTORY -- Peg Massey of North Baltimore wrote Watchdog asking about the "lovely tower with bells & a clock in the center." She said the bells haven't rung and the clock hands haven't moved past 3 o'clock in many years. "Perhaps," she wrote, "if it were put into working order it would be more meaningful to the neighbors." Massey's question takes the Watchdog down memory lane.

It's just past 6 a.m., dark and chilly, and much of Maryland's capital is still asleep. Sailboats bob at a deserted City Dock. A taxi idles by a silent State House. But around the corner, four senators are striding down the fourth-floor corridor of their hotel. Did they get an emergency call from the governor? Are they rushing out to a pre-dawn hearing? Nope, this happens to be an even more important appointment. The two pairs of women whip past the elevators without breaking stride. As they turn the corner, Sen. Paula C. Hollinger keeps count.

I usually crave something sweet around 4 p.m. The temptation is so strong that I almost always give in. I've tried many tricks, like bringing carrot sticks to eat instead, but nothing seems to work. Is there any way to break this cycle? When it comes to favorite foods, most of us are creatures of habit. But recognizing that sugary treats are your weakness, and knowing when to expect them gives you a good chance to fend off the cravings. First, make sure you eat a healthful lunch containing protein, complex carbohydrates and a small amount of fat. As late afternoon rolls around, expect the craving.

This Week 150 years ago in The SunJuly 14: Last evening, shortly after nine o'clock, a very brilliant meteor shot athwart the sky from south west to north east, resembling a ball of fire, the effect of which, either from its brightness or nearness to the earth, was to produce quite a strong light upon the ground as it passed over.L July 16: There is no news from the East worth telegraphing.July 19: A Swindle -- An individual, who certainly does not read the papers, was yesterday morning swindled out of 10 dollars, by a party whom he found on Fells Point, and who were playing the game of betting on a piece of paper enclosed in a box. He stated his grievance to a magistrate, who could do nothing for him. He will know better next time.

Not everything went as planned -- no one, after all, knew the tornado was coming -- but Jiri and Marta Hnizda still moved their five children into the dream house in time for Christmas. Now there is wood in the stove, a Christmas tree by the front window, and the children run from room to room and dance on the floors, ecstatic to have so much space. It is a big, happy house, high on an old farm hill in Carroll County.Still, the journey to this place and this joyous day was so difficult you can hardly believe a family survived, dream intact.

Facing a midnight deadline to sign last year's first-round draft pick, Adam Loewen, the Orioles' front office spent Memorial Day cloistered in the B&O warehouse, hoping beyond hope they could work out a deal with the 19-year-old pitcher. Then it happened. At about 11:55 p.m., the Orioles struck a major league deal with Loewen that will make him the new centerpiece of an organization trying desperately to rebuild. Loewen is a 6-foot-6 left-hander who went 6-1 this season with a 2.47 ERA at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla. The Orioles made him the fourth overall pick in last year's draft but failed to sign him last summer and weren't allowed to negotiate with him again until his season ended on May 10. Had Loewen not signed by midnight, he would have gone back into the June 3 draft, and the Orioles would have received a supplemental-round pick (No. 37 overall)

For 15 years, no television season could be said to have truly arrived until NBC's self-styled "Must-See" Thursday night lineup was in place, with blockbuster hits from "The Cosby Show" to "Friends" returning for another year atop the Nielsen ratings. Most viewers are just looking forward to new episodes of their favorite series. They might not even notice the larger story on NBC - "Will & Grace," a sitcom with a leading character who is gay, is moving into the most prestigious spot on network television, Thursday nights at 9, in the tradition of "Cheers," "Frasier" and "Seinfeld."