When a woman named Thursday finds out she is going to be reincarnated as Tuesday, her attempt to cheat the cycle of reincarnation unleashes a terrible beauty that leaves the other days of the week in turmoil.

Thursday's Fictions, a 52 minute surreal dance fantasy film with Edwardian Gothic stylings, has won three awards, has been a finalist for four more (and the book for the Kenneth Slessor Prize), and is tonight a finalist for "Best Experimental" at the 2007 Enhance TV ATOM Awards, taking place in the Plaza Ballroom, Regent Theatre, Collins St in Melbourne, Australia.

Thursday's Fictions is not only available on DVD (USA, Australia/NZ, UK/Europe/Asia) - you can experience some of the magic in Second Life as well, as constructed by The Project Factory's Gary Hazlitt. There is also a trailer to whet your appetite for the experience, though it may not be suitable for work, including artistically contextualised partial nudity.

The still image you see above doesn't do the place justice. Turn the sound on, and walk through the place. Experience it first-hand and in motion.

Literature Alive! (disclosure: I am an owner of this group and have been involved in these developments) is running two events over the next few days.

On Saturday at 8am SL Time students from De Sales University will be judged on their material for the "Literature of the Progressive Era" display in a funfair on land contributed by Finger Lakes Community College. From tomorrow you can judge which of the elements you find meets the criteria best - you are not judging the build (most of it is bought from in-world or created by people other than the students), but the content in terms of how well it teaches you about the era in question - a era of significant social change. You have the chance to vote for the best group, who will win a RL cash prize and leave feedback for the groups via an anonymous web-form.

Literature Alive! has also converted the British Gothic Literature classroom into a haunted house, with some help (and extra prims for a while) from out hostess, the Alliance Library, on Eduisland 3. As well as giving you the chance to learn more about gothic literature and the British authors, there is a hidden red cauldron. Find this to win a small L$ prize. There are other games and activites too, and no commercial activity, just fun for Halloween.

Who knew you could learn so much from hanging out in a virtual fishbowl? Artist Strawberry Holiday takes guests on a trip into the world of a 3D recreation of one of her real-life paintings through her exhibition at Kush City. Update: You can watch a machinima of it on Vlad Bjornson's Shiny Life site.

Besides being an interesting point of view to explore, the fishbowl installation also advocates acceptance for plus-size women in Second Life and beyond. On a canvas of blue water and a miniature midnight city, the artist's aquatic world is filled with plump mermaid sculptures, caught in the middle of their cheerful play. Although some residents present at the opening considered this work a combination between Van Gogh and Robbie Dingo, what captured me was the lovely way in which Holiday expressed her message. The style was fresh and lively, a definite must-see.

If you like the artist's work at Kush City, you can also see her work at The Second Louvre Museum or at her own Winged Gallery.

Thanks to Tayzia Abattoir for the heads-up!

Australian Metaverse developer The Project Factory has unveiled an artistic remix of the alleys and laneways of Melbourne (my local stomping grounds). Rather than simply replicating a chunk of the city, the installation draws on the elements and flavor of many scenes and locales, mixing them into an artistic reinterpretation of the feel and mood of Melbourne's almost mazelike webwork of minor streets and byways.

Gary Hazlitt (aka Gary Hayes), Head of Virtual World Development at The Project Factory said, "We wanted to catch the vibrancy of the Melbourne Laneways and the architecture of Federation Square. Second Life gave us the ability to animate these buildings and give them the movement that we feel they want."

The Flash video [courtesy of the fast and friendly folks at SLCN.TV] linked above shows the site being unpacked at Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Island. So what are you waiting for? Get down there and soak some of the Melbournian ambience!