The Bob Woodruff Foundation(BWF) and the New York Comedy Festival have just announced that John Mayer and Roger Waters have joined the bill at the 6th annual Stand Up for Heroes event on Thursday, November 8th, at the Beacon Theatre, New York, in addition to previously announced performers Mike Birbiglia, Ricky Gervais, Patton Oswalt, Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen and Robin Williams. Roger Waters will be performing with a band comprised of military veterans.

Musical performances will be streamed live on YouTube and available worldwide on Remind.org, the website of the Bob Woodruff Foundation as the 6th annual Stand Up for Heroes gala kicks off at the same time as the event, 8pm EST. Viewers of the live stream will be able to make donations to the BWF to help support injured service men and women.

"We look forward to this event all year, because we are always honored when we get to meet the inspirational men and women who have served our country so heroically," said Bob Woodruff, co-founder, the Bob Woodruff Foundation. "In addition, we are amazed at the caliber of talent we are able to pull in for the benefit. These performers simply want to help give back to the men and women who have sacrificed so much. We hope that the social media component, new this year, will enable more people to enjoy the show--and will raise even more awareness for the cause that lies behind it."

For more information about the event, and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, visit www.ReMIND.org.

In separate Waters news, Roger Waters is amongst the top nominees at the 2012 Billboard Touring Awards, scheduled for next Thursday (November 8th) at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. Roger's The Wall Live tour is up against competition from Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Coldplay and more in a couple of categories. They are in the running for the Top Tour category, which acknowledges the highest-grossing tour of the year. Meanwhile, Springsteen, Waters and Coldplay are vying for the Top Draw award, which is awarded to the tours that have sold the most tickets.

Update: Springsteen took home the Top Draw award, and Waters’ The Wall Live Tour, meanwhile, was victorious in the Top Tour category, which acknowledges the highest-grossing trek.

Regulars to Brain Damage over the years will know that our friend Joe Ringus is a hugely talented pumpkin artist, and each year crafts a Pink Floyd themed pumpkin for Hallowe'en (which is celebrated by many, principally last night, but in a number of places it covers a number of days).

Joe has been hard at work again, and as before, we're delighted to share his incredible carving with you. Marking the 42nd anniversary of its release, this year's pumpkin features the star of Atom Heart Mother's cover - Lulubelle III. His choice of design didn't necessarily sit easy with him as he faced the challenge of the carve. "I wasn't sure how this one would turn out. Looking at the original album cover, I wasn't sure how it'd translate to the pumpkin. But I think it turned out fair."

We think that Joe's done another excellent job, and we're delighted to bring you this latest design from him - click the thumbnails to the left to see Joe's hard, and careful, work in more detail.

Just published in hardback by Carlton, Treasures of Pink Floyd tells the band's history with words, pictures and removable facsimile memorabilia. The book recounts every decade of the band's existence and every album they recorded. It contains profiles of all five members and discusses the significant influence they had on music and culture across the world. As the publishers put it, the book "captures the amazing, surreal and fascinating world of Pink Floyd". The rise in popularity of books such as this - including reproduction materials to enhance the story within - has been most notable in the world of film, with Star Wars and Alien being given similar treatment, so it is good to see music getting more attention in this realm.

One of three new Treasures books that Carlton have just published (the other two look at AC/DC and Bob Dylan), it is authored by Glenn Povey. Glenn, as many of you will be aware, was the creator of Brain Damage magazine, the forerunner to this website. He's also author of essential books such as In The Flesh and Echoes, so we're eager to see how The Treasures of Pink Floyd measures up to these.

Specially produced reproductions included within the covers range from a 'Psychodilia' poster from the Hornsea College of Art, London concert, handbills for various early concerts, tickets includng a signed ticket from the Chesterfield concert, concert posters, a backstage pass, and even a promotional beermat!

We should be able to bring you a review of this book soon, but in the meantime, it can be ordered through these direct links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Espana and Amazon Italy.

On Friday (October 19th), Pink Floyd: Storie e segreti was published in Italy. Five Italian fans, known as The Lunatics, together owners of one of the largest collections worldwide of Pink Floyd's rare records and memorabilia, have told – like nobody else before – a story about nearly 50 years of Pink Floyd life, going through the oddest stories and the strangest pictures, often never before heard or seen.

The book runs from the adventurous beginnings in London's underground scene to the Italian tours in front of few spectators, from the accidents that happened during their concerts to the lost Zabriskie Point songs, up to the esoteric aspects of the sleeves and even a gallery of the most unusual and rare covers in the world, including the fabulous red vinyls published in Japan that now get impressive prices at auctions worldwide.

The book, two years in the making, tells the story of some of the more thought-provoking covers (A Saucerful Of Secrets, Ummagumma, A Nice Pair, Wish You Were Here, The Division Bell), the oddities and the rarities (the psychedelic posters, impossible-to-find vinyls, censorship and differences between editions of different countries, some basic tour programs), crucial points in Pink Floyd's concert history (the UFO Club debut, The Man & The Journey suites, Eclipse and the Italian gigs in 1968 and 1971), to the implications behind the material recorded for the soundtracks of Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point and Pink Floyd The Wall by Alan Parker.

With exclusive interviews, rare pictures, and insights that haven't been given before, this book promises plenty to the Floyd fan. You can buy the book in Italian bookstores, or for fans either in Italy, or indeed worldwide, you can order it direct from Amazon Italy through this direct link. They'll ship the book wherever you live.