Our congratulations to Roger Waters who was yesterday one of 21 top songwriters who won an ASCAP Song Award at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. He won the award for Money, which of course appeared on Pink Floyd's 1973 album.

The ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) awards honour those writer and pubisher members of the UK's Performing Rights Society whose repertoire is licenced by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the US during 2008.

Other winners in the ceremony yesterday were Sir Paul McCartney, AC/DC, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, U2, and The Clash.

David Gilmour has been announced as amongst a diverse number of luminaries from Cambridge who are to receive honorary degrees from Anglia Ruskin University. In the list revealed by the university yesterday (October 12th) David was joined by others such as army general Sir Richard Dannatt and comedian Lee Evans. David is a former student of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, which preceeded Anglia Ruskin University.

David will be made an Honorary Doctor of Arts at a ceremony to be held at Cambridge Corn Exchange on November 11th. Anglia Ruskin (which was one of the sites used in last year's City Wakes Syd Barrett Festival) said that it recognises his "outstanding contribution to music as a writer, performer and innovator".

Our congratulations to David for this award and recognition!

With apologies for the rather short notice(!), those in London today who have nothing already planned for this rather grey, damp day, should consider a jaunt down to the Southbank Centre for Hitchcon'09, a celebration of Douglas Adams and his iconic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Taking place 30 years after H2G2 first appeared, and 8 years after Douglas's sad passing, it includes never-before-seen images from his personal archives, including pictures from his jamming sessions with David Gilmour, a good friend who even gave him the experience of joining Pink Floyd on stage for one song at Earls Court in 1994 as a birthday present!

The event also includes performances featuring actors from the original radio show, and much more. Events kick off at 11:30am this morning, with the first session starting at 12:30pm; more details of everything on offer at www.SouthbankCentre.co.uk and at www.6of3.com.

Further to the recent story reported far and wide (details here) concerning David collaborating with Dr Alex Patterson, head honcho of top ambient band The Orb, there has been some clarification courtesy of David's official website. They note that the collaboration comments are true, albeit "up to a point. David has done some recording with The Orb and producer Youth, inspired initially by the plight of Gary McKinnon. However, nothing is finalised, and nothing has been confirmed with regards to any structure for the recordings or firm details re: any release plans." So there you have it...