All of us on the Brain Damage team would like to extend our congratulations to Jon Carin, who celebrates his 44th birthday today (Tuesday, October 21st).

The talented multi-instrumentalist has been a key part of the Pink Floyd operation since 1985, and most recently toured with David Gilmour (on his On An Island tour), and Roger Waters (on his Dark Side Of The Moon tour). For those who have yet to read our fascinating interview with Jon, we urge you to do so - click here to see it.

Have a great day, Jon - and many happy returns!

The specialist UK publication, Record Collector Magazine, is a regular purchase for many dedicated music fans, keen to keep abreast of the latest releases and findings in the world of music collecting. Known for their regular insightful Pink Floyd coverage, the December 2008 issue (which hits UK stores on October 23rd) should be particularly worth snapping up.

The issue focuses on two main Floyd strands. First, it covers some of the rarest of their 7" singles from around the globe, in an article assisted by those behind the forthcoming "Pink Floyd on 45" book.

The other strand comes in the wake of the Atom Heart Mother concerts in June, with a fascinating article on the making of AHM. There's also excerpts from our three-part interview with Ron Geesin, which had him talking for the very last time about AHM, how the June 2008 concerts came about, and what the future holds for the piece. Visit www.recordcollectormag.com for further information and a taster of the various articles within the magazine.

November 2008 sees the publication of a new book focusing on the wonderful cover images created by Storm Thorgerson and his colleagues from the graphic design studio he founded with Aubrey Powell. The hardcover, 224 page "For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis" is the first book to document their output in detail, focusing on over 60 package designs – from cover to label – written about in entertaining detail by the men who created them.

Also included are short essays by musicians (such as Pink Floyd's Nick Mason), artists (Peter Blake) and fellow designers (Paula Scher) on their favourite covers, as well as unseen photographs and ephemera. Complementing it all is a lengthy critical and historical text examining Hipgnosis and its legacy. Sounds pretty essential to us!

You could save more than a third on recommended retail price by using our special links (which will also help with the running costs of the site) here: Amazon UK, Amazon.com (US/international), Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, or Amazon France.

Last night saw a triple celebration taking place at Firehouse in central London - the official launch for the very desirable Scarfe On The Wall box set (a collaboration between Gerald Scarfe, Roger Waters, and luxury book publishers Gloria); Gerald receiving his CBE award from the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, the day before; and the start of the charity auction for Gerald's wonderful, hand-painted, Wall design Fender Stratocaster signed by Roger, Nick Mason, David Gilmour, and, shortly before his very sad passing, Richard Wright.