O Clock

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.

AS YOGI BERRA once said, it's deja vu all over again, listening to reporters at briefings in Riyadh and Washington battle -- to the point of monotonous repetition -- for scraps of information on the Persian Gulf War without receiving anything that can really be called "news."It was much the same at the notorious "four o'clock follies," the daily high command briefing during the Vietnam War -- really a score-keeping exercise.Gulf reporters get the daily statistics: the number of sorties, how many Allied planes have been lost, how many enemy shot down, if any, how many Scud missiles were launched and how the Patriots did against them, and (to a limited extent)

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.

AS A FORMER news "person," I have become increasingly alarmed by developments taking place among those entrusted with keeping the public informed.The first hint of trouble came one day while I was watching WMAR's Sally Thorner on the 5 o'clock news. The station's slogan is "Friends you can turn to," and to prove how friendly members of the staff were with one another, Thorner showed a clip of her playing a practical joke on her co-anchor, Stan Stovall: When he wasn't looking she pinned something on his jacket that amused her greatly.

HOLLYWOOD Tears will flow, hearts will rend and noses will sniffle all over America tonight as CBS airs the made-for-TV movie "Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story."The title notwithstanding, it will only be a small, somewhat fictive slice of the real Ricky Bell story. (It will be on Channel 11-WBAL at 9 p.m.)"We weren't doing the complete Ricky Bell story," said screenwriter Jeff Andrus, who spent a month last year researching the former USC football hero's life and tragic early death.

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.

Now that all the talk shows are in place for the late-night war, it's time to start thinking about yet another battlefield and the arrival of a most unusual warrior to Baltimore TV.Today marks the start of what's going to be one of the most competitive struggles in the history of local TV: the 5 o'clock wars.The battle won't be in full effect until Dec. 1 when WJZ (Channel 13) launches its new 5 o'clock news with Sally Thorner. That's the marquee event.But the counterprogramming starts today with the arrival of "Ricki Lake" at 5 on WBFF (Channel 45)

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.

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.

CLEVELAND -- Both managers in the American League Championship Series would like to do away with afternoon games, the kind that drove hitters crazy Saturday because of poor visibility at home plate and also limited players in the field.The Orioles and Cleveland Indians combined for an LCS-record 33 strikeouts. Mike Mussina set an LCS record with 15 strikeouts, which Florida's Livan Hernandez tied yesterday -- in similar conditions -- in a Game 5 victory over Atlanta in the NLCS."I think 4 o'clock starts are bad for baseball," the Orioles' Davey Johnson said.