Masterful

It's an academic roller-coaster-ride at St Peter's College, Oxford for new Master Mark Damazer, formerly Controller of Radio 4.  So far this term, he's picked up a little about TB, quantum mechanics, game theory and Cambodian forests, protein interaction and DNA repair, memory-improving drugs, and the performance history of medieval plays.

But there's always room to learn more from the greats - and last Friday, Mark and the St Peter's JCR supped at the fountain of knowledge that is the Parf-Daddy, sorry, Andy Parfitt, Controller BBC Radio 1/1Xtra, Switch, etc. Mark's report:  "No state secrets were revealed – though  we got close.  Andy Parfitt’s qualified defence of ‘monsterdom’ – the grizzly projection of superstar rock music egos – was a highlight." 

Could this be a reference to the Electric Proms, now the property of Bob Shennan of Radio 2 ?  "Monsters" Elton John, Leon Russell, Neil Diamond and Robert Plant were the principal performers, with a combined age of 262.  Next year, expect performances at the wheels of steel from Desmond Carrington and David Jacobs, both 84.