Random Encounters with Celebrities

[Slim]

I saw Sunetra Sarker, "Zoe Hanna" in Holby CIty and "Nisha Batra" in Brookside, in Top Shop on The Strand in 2007. A few years earlier when I lived in London, probably in 2000 or so, I saw Nicola Stephenson (Margaret from Brookside) and Angela Griffin (best remembered as Fiona Middleton from Coronation Street) together in a small basement night club in the West End. I think they were both in Holby City as well, at the time.

I remember seeing the BBC DJ Mark Goodier driving a van emblazoned with Radio 1 branding while out in a car one day in the '90s, but I can't remember where.

I met John Deacon (Queen bass player) at a swanky party given by Reuters to their market data customers at St Catherine's Wharf in December 1995. I was the only person there who recognised him. I wasn't 100% sure it was him, so I went up to a woman he'd just been chatting to and asked her "excuse me .. was that John Deacon you were talking to?" She replied that she had no idea who he was, but he said he played bass in a band. I talked to him for about 20 minutes. He was really humble and friendly. I wanted to talk to him about his bass guitars, he wanted to talk about market data and network protocols. But he did have an anecdote about being trapped in a hotel in Japan because it was surrounded by fans as far as the eye could see.

He also had a few choice words about the prospect of Queen touring with George Michael on vocals, which was being touted as a possibility at the time. He very definitely wasn't keen on the idea.

There was a photographer present at the do, taking photos of people with amusing props. I still have a pic somewhere of myself with one of my colleagues, in which we're both wearing Mexican style sombreros and ponchos. John agreed to have a photo taken with me but annoyingly, the photographer had already left. Wouldn't that have been a nice little memento of a night out in London?

I saw Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer) standing around on London Bridge, talking to someone on a mobile phone, about 20 years ago.

[The Picnic Wasp]

I saw Sunetra Sarker, "Zoe Hanna" in Holby CIty and "Nisha Batra" in Brookside, in Top Shop on The Strand in 2007. A few years earlier when I lived in London, probably in 2000 or so, I saw Nicola Stephenson (Margaret from Brookside) and Angela Griffin (best remembered as Fiona Middleton from Coronation Street) together in a small basement night club in the West End. I think they were both in Holby City as well, at the time.

I remember seeing the BBC DJ Mark Goodier driving a van emblazoned with Radio 1 branding while out in a car one day in the '90s, but I can't remember where.

I met John Deacon (Queen bass player) at a swanky party given by Reuters to their market data customers at St Catherine's Wharf in December 1995. I was the only person there who recognised him. I wasn't 100% sure it was him, so I went up to a woman he'd just been chatting to and asked her "excuse me .. was that John Deacon you were talking to?" She replied that she had no idea who he was, but he said he played bass in a band. I talked to him for about 20 minutes. He was really humble and friendly. I wanted to talk to him about his bass guitars, he wanted to talk about market data and network protocols. But he did have an anecdote about being trapped in a hotel in Japan because it was surrounded by fans as far as the eye could see.

He also had a few choice words about the prospect of Queen touring with George Michael on vocals, which was being touted as a possibility at the time. He very definitely wasn't keen on the idea.

There was a photographer present at the do, taking photos of people with amusing props. I still have a pic somewhere of myself with one of my colleagues, in which we're both wearing Mexican style sombreros and ponchos. John agreed to have a photo taken with me but annoyingly, the photographer had already left. Wouldn't that have been a nice little memento of a night out in London?

I saw Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer) standing around on London Bridge, talking to someone on a mobile phone, about 20 years ago.

That's an amazing John Deacon story. That must count as one of the last, fairly lengthy chats he had with anyone before going off the radar. He's someone I would love to have met to talk bass amongst other things. I'd be quite happy to go along with anything he wanted to chat about. He was a much bigger contributor to Queen than many realise. A bit of an electronic wizard as well.

[Fishy]

Nick Nairn the chef..this lunchtime.. well it was his gaff we were at