Install fails – syntax error (not the usual one)

When running the install script on 2.6.1, i’ve gotten the following error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘}’, expecting ‘)’ in /bobandthomas.com/blogs/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 103

I’ve rechecked my wp-config.php (including adding explicit errors to test that it’s not a deferred syntax error) and it’s correct (notepad).

I’ve re-downloaded the software, recopied the files twice, reset the permissions on the directories and rechecked the database connection (though, if it were that, I’d expect a more meaningful error).

I even tried adding replacement ‘)’ into the formatting.php, but it only moves the error.

At this point, I’m stuck and any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Thomas