Last month, a number of Brain Damage visitors took part in the first of the guided walks of Syd Barrett's Cambridge, run by I-SpySydInCambridge in conjunction with BD. The walk, a tour of the city that took in many of the more significant sites which were connected to the life and times of Syd, and the various bands which lead to Pink Floyd, provided a fascinating and illuminating look at those early days.

The hosts of the tour - personal friends of Syd, who grew up with him - shared their own memories of school days and beyond with Syd, Roger, David, and other Floyd illumni who lived and worked in Cambridge.

A second tour has been arranged, for September 11th. All places on this tour have now been booked, and as with the first tour, some special guests are again being lined up. Should be a great day!

Next year's tour dates will be announced in due course (either later this year, or early next), and a selection of pictures from this year's tours will be on www.I-SpySydInCambridge.com before the end of this year.

This evening, the Roger Waters Facebook page has revealed some incredible news... video footage of the Hoping Foundation gig featuring David Gilmour and Roger Waters held at Kiddington Hall in Oxfordshire last month, will be released this coming Monday (August 16th, 2010) at 5pm UK time. The full 29 minutes performance of David, Roger, and their band, will be made available via the charity's website: HopingFoundation.org. As Roger notes, "[the Hoping Foundation] are doing great work for refugee children. Please support the charity if you can."

There's a two-minute video taster at Roger's Facebook page right now... As a side note, we hugely applaud their generosity at releasing this footage, which hopefully will benefit the charity, and is a wonderful gesture to the fans who were thrilled by the news of this historic get-together.

UPDATE: The launch time for the footage has been brought forward, and it is available to view NOW at the Foundation's website. Don't forget to make a donation if you can...

On October 4th, 2010, 'An Introduction to Syd Barrett' is released in the UK and Europe by EMI/Harvest Records. It is a brand new collection that will bring together for the first time the tracks of Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett on one compilation.

UPDATE: It's been revealed that this release will include the previously-unreleased 20-minute instrumental 'Rhamadan'. Produced by former Pink Floyd and Syd co-manager Peter Jenner, the list of musicians is lost in the mists of time, though it's rumoured to include congas by Steve Peregrine Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is to be offered as an extra downloadable track with the CD (via an auxiliary Website), and also the iTunes version of the album.

David Gilmour, who originally worked with Syd Barrett on the solo albums by co-producing 'The Madcap Laughs' and as producer of 'Barrett' has taken the role of executive producer for the album and has, along with Damon Iddins and Andy Jackson at Astoria Studios, remixed five tracks including Octopus, She Took A Long Cold Look (now renamed ...Cool Look), Dominoes and Here I Go on which David Gilmour has added and played bass guitar. Pink Floyd's Matilda Mother also receives a fresh 2010 mix. Brand new artwork has been provided by Storm Thorgerson and his estimable studio.

Here's the track listing of this album:

Many of you will recall that, all the way back in February, we told you about Blurred Vision, a Toronto-based band fronted by to exiled Iranian brothers, who had produced their own version of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall part 2 with Roger Waters' full blessing.

The project has, in the last week, finally hit the mainstream press, and Roger has been talking about it on his Facebook page. He says: "I think it's great that these guys are using the song to protest against the repressive and brutal regime in Iran. South African kids did during apartheid and Palestinian kids do to protest the Israeli occupation of their land. I am proud to be a small part of this resistance."

To date, the video (which you can view via our earlier story, or indeed directly at Youtube) was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Babak Payami, and has had over 238,000 views at time of writing. It emphasizes the importance of citizen journalism in transporting the bitter realities of another remote part of the world, while it warns of its implications on us in the safety of our homes far away. Roger himself added: "I think The Blurred Vision video is very accomplished and makes its point powerfully."