Our heartiest best wishes go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 67th birthday today (Monday, September 6th)!

Roger was born in Great Bookham, Surrey, in 1943, moving to Cambridge when he was two years old. It was there that he met, and became childhood friends with, a number of key people in the story of Pink Floyd. We - the Brain Damage team, and quite a number of our visitors who have asked us to pass on their best wishes, too - hope you have a great day, Roger. Many happy returns!

Of course, with the 2010 Wall Live tour just about to start, Roger probably won't have much time for birthday cake today; life is surely even busier there than here as the days count down! Following on from yesterday's story about the Helsinki tickets going on sale this morning, within 30 minutes they'd all gone and a second night - April 28th, 2011, at the Hartwall Areena - was added. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 9:30am...

With the start of the 2010 leg of Roger Waters The Wall Live incredibly now just over a week away, activity here is pretty frantic! Similarly frantic will be our Finnish friends for tomorrow morning (Monday, September 6th) at 9am, tickets for the Helsinki Hartwall Areena concert on April 27th 2011, go on sale. If the other shows on the tour are anything to go by, the tickets will sell incredibly quickly! You'll be able to buy them through Lippu.fi, who are part of Live Nation.

Our thanks to Sami Virtanen for the info, and for the scan from today's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper (click thumbnail).

Last month, we told you about the new collaboration between David Gilmour, and ambient wizards The Orb. The resulting album, Metallic Spheres, has really got the interest fired up amongst many of you, and we're getting a regular stream of emails asking about it, and how to get hold of it.

The date of release has now been fixed at October 11th in the UK, and one day later in North America. As a reminder, in addition to the standard CD album, there will be a 'Deluxe' 2CD version, which includes a 3D60™ version, a new sound production process which allows you to listen in three-dimensional sound through headphones (get a taster here). The album will also be available from iTunes, and there will also be a limited 180-gram vinyl version, exactly the same as the standard CD, but including a download card permitting you to download an additional ambient bonus track.

Pre-orders for the album have now started, and you can currently order the following:

For the single CD, Play are substantially cheaper than the other European retailers at time of writing, and Amazon Germany are cheaper than the UK for the vinyl edition. Most retailers are now offering the 2CD set.

By the way, and quite importantly, we understand that the 3D60 mix on the 2CD set is substantially different to the 'standard' mix which is on the single CD set, so it sounds like it is definitely worth getting both if you can. And, for those who didn't see this via our Facebook page, here's the upgraded EPK for the album:

In the September 2010 issue of the UK's Rhythm Magazine, Chris Barnes interviews Nick Mason, who also features on the cover (click thumbnail) as part of their celebration of 25 years.

Nick talks about the development of the drummer and the equipment over the years, revealing his favourites, and also reveals his thoughts about Pink Floyd, in the interview which can also be read in full here. "The great thing about the band is how seriously people take it and that is personally very rewarding. It's that sense that you've given a lot of people something that's quite important to them, and that's really quite powerful. I really began to understand that more clearly after I'd done the book and I'd been on signing tours, because it's much more individual."

Barnes asks him about a film about Pink Floyd that Nick has been working on. "Searching through the archives, has that stirred any feelings in you?" Nick: "Oh yes, there's lots of good stuff. Doing the book I've been through a lot of photographs. Some of them are very funny, seeing just how bad the moustache was and how big the flares were."

Nick also talks about other things in progress: "There's two things. We've been developing the idea of a Pink Floyd anthology for a long time. I've spent quite a lot of time trying to find the material. I really enjoy that, but it's time consuming. We're talking about doing a big reissue of the Pink Floyd catalogue because there is the belief that there eventually will be the point that there simply won't be enough market to generate those sort of packages. That would be a tragedy, so it's a good time to do it..."

The magazine went on sale in major UK stores yesterday (August 31st) and can be purchased worldwide via mail order at MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk. It comes with free Drum Icon Collectors' Prints of Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Bonham and Charlie Watts.