We have a general wrap-up of smaller news items today, relating to various publications and Pink Floyd activities, and start with an amusing and somewhat unexpected one!

The UK-based betting firm, William Hill, have opened up a series of books on the 2012 Olympic Games, being held in London. Among the bets is: "Who will be Number One" in the UK singles charts at the time? They list Pink Floyd as second favourites at 50/1! Maybe they know something we don't?! It is really quite funny. Thanks to Kevin De Ornellas for letting us know about this!

The September 2005 issue of the UK's Mojo Magazine, out today, features a nice double page black and white photo of an early, pre-Pink Floyd Sound line up. The picture shows Syd Barrett and Roger Waters alongside singer Chris Dennis and guitarist Bob Klose, and has not been published elsewhere.

The photographer, Sebastian Jenkins, recently found the proofs of the pictures. He said: "At the time, who the band were didn't mean much to me. I just took the pictures and left." The picture in Mojo shows the band in mid-performance at a private party in a house in Oxshott, Surrey "some time in 1964".

This month's issue also covers Bob Dylan's career in depth, and has interviews with the likes of Paul McCartney, Kraftwerk, and more... It is available in the UK now, and in selected outlets overseas.

The September 2005 issue of the UK's Octane Magazine, out now, features a new writer taking over their "Enthusiast" column - none other than Nick Mason!

The magazine is a mouth-watering look at vintage, classic cars, many of which are still pushed to their limits. Ferraris, Alfas, Bugattis, and more are regularly featured on their pages, which Nick has occasionally appeared in.

This month sees the first of his monthly columns, where he talks about taking a blast through rural France in his 670bhp McLaren F1 GTR, of which he has this to say:

"Although modified by the factory to be road legal, most of my usage has been at circuits frightening myself. 'Road legal' involved fitting reversing lights, silencers, and horrid bits of rubber on exposed edges to stop pedestrians hurting themselves in the unfortunate event of me running into them at 240 miles per hour..."

A great read, as Nick's writing always is. The magazine is available in the UK now, and in selected outlets overseas.

The September 2005 issue of the UK's Q Magazine, out today, has a disappointingly small feature on the Live 8 concert in London, which of course mentions the reunion of Pink Floyd with Roger Waters.

The coverage of the band themselves is quite small, but accompanied by a nice "farewell" shot that hasn't been shown elsewhere (although similar to many others). Nick is quoted as saying the reunion was "remarkably civilized" whilst lounging on a sofa backstage, and there's a picture of David Gilmour with Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), backstage.

The magazine also includes exhaustive coverage of Nirvana's last days, in a 27 page special, and an interview with Paul McCartney about The Beatles and more. It is available in the UK now, and in selected outlets overseas.

Of interest to collectors of Floyd covers, Bruce Hornsby has just released a DVD in the US entitled "Three Nights on the Town". On this DVD he plays a cover of Comfortably Numb in the middle of his song, Fortunate Son.

At the end he also tells the story to the audience about how he was invited to do the song with Roger Waters at the Guitar Legends festival, and how it gave him chills which prompted him to write Fortunate Son.

There are also some shows available to download in full, at www.brucehornsbylive.com where he does the Comfortably Numb cover. Our thanks to Jonathan Still for the info.

Finally, not really a must for Floyd fans, but it might amuse you to hear that "Comfortably Numb" is listed as the 14th most depressing song ever, according to author Tom Reynolds in his new book "I Hate Myself And Want To Die".

Written with tongue firmly in cheek, it's got some pretty funny satirical outlooks on certain songs, that he has deemed depressive, including Celine Dion's "All by Myself", Barry Manilow's "Mandy" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

On "Comfortably Numb", which he has put under the sub-heading "I'm telling a story, nobody wants to hear", he explains the back plot of the album very descriptively: "There's this rock star named Pink. And a big wall. OK, you're set".

The book is out now if you want a chuckle, or indeed to compile a truly gruelling compilation! Our thanks to Phil for the info.