Talkin' 'bout my generation

Who says academics aren't wild-living people with their fingers on the pulse? Neil Jackson, professor of architectural engineering at Leeds University, wrote to The Times to criticise a leader claiming that The Who should stop producing music because most band members will soon qualify for a bus pass. "Let Mr Daltrey and Mr Townshend strut their stuff," he protested. "I find it as exciting now as I did when I last saw them 30 years ago."

The head-banging professor also fumed that the music of the Rolling Stones was "far from sleep-inducing", as the paper claimed. "I do not know what my colleagues in the senior common room or down at the Society of Antiquaries might think, but I don't care," he adds rebelliously.