In July this year, the Italian city of Padua becomes rather bricked up; it plays host to Roger Waters presenting "The Wall" on July 26th, and between July 13th - 28th there is "Outside The Wall", a fascinating sounding exhibition organized by Floydseum, which offers major guest speakers and an unique opportunity to admire objects and memorabilia from around the world.

The Cultural Association Floydseum, fresh from the great success of the Pink Floyd Day 2 held in Brescia on April 27th, engages in a new initiative that promises to be another success: the organization of the largest exhibition dedicated to "Pink Floyd The Wall" ever realized until now. The Hall of the Cultural Center Agora Altinate/San Gaetano in Padova will host the first exhibition of some of the most valuable and rare pieces from the private collections of fans around the world related to the discography, film and live shows of the Wall project.

Of equal, or possibly greater interest, are the range of guest speakers. These include David Appleby, official photographer present on set during the shooting of the Alan Parker film, who will speak on July 13th for the opening of the Exhibition. Other speakers will be Brain Damage's very own Glenn Povey, well-known author of key Floyd books such as Echoes, and Gio Alajmo, renowned Italian journalist and music critic. For the first time in Italy, 47 original photos taken by Appleby will be on display, alongside 20 rare original prints made available by Gerald Scarfe, who has also created the poster for "Outside the Wall". Scarfe is due to appear at the exhibition on the morning of July 26th. Conferences and meetings with experts of the group, concerts (Wit Matrix cover band) and demonstrations of the Virtual Museum in 3D, the flagship of the Association Floydseum that allows the visitor to navigate to a spectacular world, are scheduled during the opening of "Outside The Wall".

In the exhibition space there will also be the famous 3 metre high neon sculpture of the hammers created by Maestro Marco Lodola, one of the greatest exponents of Italian modern art.

Further information will be found at Floydseum.org.

There's No Way Out Of Here, from David Gilmour's first and eponymous solo album, will once again feature among the score of the Wilfred Owen musical Bullets And Daffodils, which opens next month at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London. Some of you will recall that the musical toured the North of England last year, to much acclaim.

The production, which uses the track as its centrepiece, accompanied by a contemporary physical theatre, was given use of the song gratis by Mr Gilmour and EMI Records. The sequence was the highpoint of last year's premiere of the show, which sets the poems of Wilfred Owen to music.

The track, of course, was was written by Ken Baker of Unicorn, and featured on their Too Many Crooks album, produced by Gilmour who liked the song so much he covered it on his first solo album. It is this cover version that is used in the performance. To get hold of Unicorn's albums on CD or download to hear what impressed Gilmour so much that he ended up producing (and even appeared on Blue Pine Trees playing the pedal steel), pop over to ItsAboutMusic.com.

This year, the drama will run for the first week of July, from Monday 1st - Saturday 6th, at 7:30pm each evening, and will feature other contributions from TV writer David Quantick and rock critic Paolo Hewitt.

The show's producer, Merseyside songwriter Dean Johnson, says, “Once again, David Gilmour has allowed us to use this incredible recording and wavered the licence and performance fees, which is such a wonderful gesture. We are trying to bring war poetry to a wider audience and an iconic song like this helps us attract an audience that perhaps would not be drawn to such a subject.”

Tickets are on sale now priced from £10, from the box office at TristanBatesTheatre.co.uk or by phone on 020 7240 6283.

Back in October 2010, Sir Alan Parker, the director of Pink Floyd's The Wall, the 1982 film starring Bob Geldof and based on the group's classic album, made a very rare special appearance at The Space event, held at the Komedia in Brighton, England. The Space is a monthly music, film and arts event, which features a line-up of highly successful special guest interviewees from the creative industries.

Sir Alan is one of Britain's most successful filmmakers, which made for a fascinating evening. In a career spanning forty years, he has worked with some of the movie world's most respected actors, such as Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Nicolas Cage and Gene Hackman, on films such as Fame, The Commitments, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Birdy. Music has been a key theme throughout much of his work, and he has collaborated with Pink Floyd (The Wall), legendary producer Giorgio Moroder (Midnight Express), Madonna and Andrew Lloyd Webber (Evita). As an active figure within the British film industry, Parker was a co-founder of the Directors Guild of Great Britain and the UK Film Council, and he is a former Chairman of the British Film Institute. His work with all these, and more, was covered in some detail with some pretty frank and honest revelations.

Pink Floyd The Wall was something he seemed to shy away from mentioning until the Q&A at the end, when he was asked directly about it. He said that was his "most miserable professional experience" but followed this up by affirming that "I'm proud of it"! He talked of "how painful it was to put it on screen" but noted that he is good friends with David Gilmour and Nick Mason due to the film (not the case, though, with Roger Waters!). He also revealed that noted director Christopher Nolan played Pink Floyd The Wall to his team just prior to starting work on his movie, Inception.

Whilst we know this was a while ago now, there's good reason for bringing it up again. We've just discovered that the organisers of The Space have put the interview up as an MP3 for everyone to hear and enjoy. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON DEMAND.

Nick Mason is one of the many drivers who has just been confirmed to be taking part in the 2013 Goodwood Festival Of Speed, which is taking place over July 11th - 14th. The event is a must-attend annual celebration of motor racing held in Sussex on an Earl's estate. Gathering cars (and bikes), drivers, and enthusiasts from all over the world, the event celebrates motor racing from the very early days, through to the very latest F1 cars. It is heldin the grounds of Lord March's estate, near Chichester, Sussex, in the south of England, and has static displays, demonstration runs, and timed runs, up the hill past Goodwood House. It's a wonderful event, and words do not pay it justice!

A plethora of top motor sport names have been confirmed to be in action at this year's much-anticipated 20th anniversary of the Festival. Spectators can gain access to the cars and their drivers, allowing them to get up close and personal with the drivers and riders. For the full list of who is appearing, and what they will be driving, click here.

Nick Mason is a regular each year, having driven a range of classic cars from his and other's collections. At this year's event he will be taking the wheel of an Auto Union Type C and his own Ferrari 250 GTO, which should excite many of the petrolheads in the anticipated 150,000-strong crowd!

Full details of the Festival can be found at www.Goodwood.co.uk/fos, where you can also still purchase your tickets for the event. Entrance is by advance purchased ticket only, and there is plenty of free parking to be found at the venue, reached easily from the main A27 coast road in Sussex.

In 2004, a lavish book was written to commemorate the Festival, and included within its pages is an article by Nick Mason, along with pictures of him at the event. Click here to see our review of the book.