Remember Amanda Knox, the Seattle student who went to Italy to study and got swept up in murder?

An Italian judge indicted the 21-year-old and her Italian ex-boyfriend today on charges of murder and sexual violence leading to the death of Knox’s housemate, British student Meredith Kercher.

The trial of Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, 24, begins on December 4. A third suspect, Rudy Guede of Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of the same charges.

[aol news]

I met a couple yesterday who needs witnesses to a dog attack at Magnuson Off-Leash dog park, Sunday around 4pm. Their little pup was attacked by what appeared to be a lab or lab mix. The resulting injuries (broken bones, kidney torn in half) were too much for the poor dog who passed on later that day. The couple are looking for witnesses of the attack and were inquiring about the health of a 2nd dog who was also attacked. They stated that the dog who attacked theirs was later seen with a muzzle, indicating that the owners knew that their dog was potentially dangerous. If you saw what happened Sunday afternoon, please contact 206-484-9428 or 425-772-2389.

How much do you know about German Expressionism, the artistic movement that reached its peak in 1920s Berlin? You may know more than you think you do if you’re a fan of movies made by the likes of Ridley Scott (Bladerunner) or Tim Burton (Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, et al). David Lynch’s films also reflect German Expressionistic traits of strongly-presented symbolism and deliberate use of surrealism in stories meant to appeal to the intellectual. Direct Expressionism in film was a trend that lasted only a short time before losing its popular appeal, but elements of Expressionism remained popular with filmmakers in the 30s and 40s and very strongly influenced two developing film genres: film noir and horror.

The earliest and most acclaimed film of German Expressionism is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, screening Thursday, October 30, at SIFF Cinema as part of its “Dark Nights” series. This film is one of the earliest to tell a story in “flashback” mode and it’s interesting to see how the technique has been developed in the years since then, both for better and for worse. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari tells the story of the title character and his faithful companion, the eternally sleeping walking Cesare carnival performers with a sinister connection to a string of murders in a German mountain village. Even nearly nine decades from its original release date, the story is suspenseful and startling in its moments of surprise.

The screening begins with a talk by German composer Gunter Buchwald about German silent film history. Buchwald will then provide an improvised piano and violent soundtrack for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and return after the film for a post-film discussion.

Today, the city’s Office of Art and Culture unveils a new exhibition at the Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery, Work in Progress. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, and photographs of people, well, at work. Working. Like us working folk do.

Works by 25 artists were selected from the city’s Portable Works Collection by curator Deborah Paine. The exhibition runs from October 28 to December 31, 2008.

We tried out ‘Zaw over the weekend, and despite the cringe factor they do make a pretty good pizza.

I knew about their focus on seasonal, local ingredients, but for some reason I thought the pizzas were pre-made, maybe even frozen. They are actually made to order, so you can choose a combination from the menu (if you can stand browsing through the “Vietzawmn”s and the “Arizawna”s), or you can design your own – you can even do 1/2 and 1/2.

The good news is that you get a freshly made pizza to take home. The not so good news is that it takes them about ten minutes to prepare your pizza, and ten minutes is entirely too long to hang out in a place adorned with slogans like, “adored by herbivores, carnivores, and locavores” and “great people serving great food to great people.” Next time, I’ll place my order in advance, which you can do by phone or on their website.

We went for the “Shroom Fest,” which was loaded with three types of mushrooms (Ostrom’s from Olympia) and had a nice blend of Asagio and Mozerella cheeses. We also got a “Naked ‘zaw,” which is your basic cheese, in the “appeti ‘zaw” size. They can do any pizza in the smaller size for $3 less. We tried the wheat crust on the mushroom pizza, which was a little too healthy-tasting for me, but their regular crust was very nice. It’s a thin crust – almost like a flatbread.

So would I try it again? Yes, I think I would – but next time I would order in advance and try to get in and out as quickly as possible, because staring at their big ‘zaw this and ‘zaw that menu board will kind of ruin your appetite.

Since I received about 20 instant messages about this event I guess I should actually blog about it.

Bacon Salt, the genius veggie salt that kinda tastes like bacon, took their bacon obsession one step further and into the condiment aisle. Say hello to Baconnaise, or bacon flavored mayo.

And because they seem to have the same hatred for Mayo as I do, it’s only fitting that Bacon and Mayo fight to the death. Go to Heaven’s Nightclub in Pioneer Square this Thursday to watch a G.L.O.W. type (do people remember G.L.O.W) match where Bacon Boy vs. the Seattle Mudhens womens’ rugby team, the Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling League’s all-star wrestlers, and The Bacon Girls all wrestle in a ring filled with 200 gallons of mayonnaise. Then score some free BLTs (with Baconnaise of course), give money to a charity and then go home feeling a little dirty inside.

For more info, hit this button.

Orca courtesy of Adactio [flickr]

A number of killer whales are missing, and presumed dead, from the Puget Sound orca pods, according to the Seattle P-I. (#) All three pods (J, K, and L) were affected, though the L pod lost four. The oldest orca that is missing/dead is Lummi, around 98 years old, who disappeared in spring, and was covered in an earlier Metblogs post. The youngest was new calf L-111, too young to have a name, who likely died within a week of birth.

The orca population is down to 83, with only a dozen or so reproductive females, according to the P-I (#). Two of the missing/dead whales were females in their prime, which concerns scientists. One older orca female, “Ankh”, showed signs of starvation- a lack of blubber behind her head, a phenomena referred to as ‘peanut head.’ Scientists at the Center for Whale Research believe the poor Chinook salmon population is partly to blame, but are doing research to determine if there are other factors.

The Whale Museum has a comprehensive list of ways to help the southern resident orcas, including things like supporting organic farming, buying no-phosphate cleaning products, or volunteering with a stream restoration program, or the San Juan Bottomfish Recovery Program.

I would much rather contemplate the lines, curves, and ideas behind Neander-Van’s photo of a wooden bench then tackle the immense workload I have today. I’m sure you all feel the same. If the weather holds, I’m calling in “sick” next Monday. Who’s with me?

Local Mom, Corey Colwell-Lipson, introduced us all to the concept of Green Halloween in 2007, and now just one year later it’s a nation-wide phenomenon. Green Halloween is “a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween.” The idea is to be more thoughtful about what you hand out to trick-or-treaters by providing items that are kid healthy, planet healthy, and people friendly.

Their website is full of resources for healthy treats (like fruit leathers, honey sticks), non-food treats (like stickers and bubbles), and trick-or-treating alternatives (like hosting a neighborhood Halloween party).  They also have a pretty extensive calendar of events in the Seattle area.

If you want to identify your home as participating in Green Halloween, you can download the logo to make a sign for your door.

While I typically support all things green and healthy, my kid doesn’t get much junk food or candy the rest of the year, so I’m inclined to let her indulge a little for Halloween. What about you? Are you doing anything to make your Halloween more healthy and green?

Even the artists are feeling the effects of the recent economy changes…