Silly boy! No, not Milli Jam or even George 'Soulchild', but 'Silly Boy' a single from Rihanna and Lady Gaga, currently two of pop's hottest properties! Is the song about Chris Brown? Rumour has it so! We played the number on the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi Radio 107.5 fm, Livingstone's best loved local radio station. 'The Experience' is sponsored by Chanters Lodge and co-hosted by Milli Jam and myself, with 'Soulchild' on technical.

Lisa and Nico, pictured above with Rita Gijzen (thank goodness I only had to pronounce it once on air!) enjoying the Chanters Lodge poolside, hail from the Netherlands. While Lisa and dad Nico answered questions, Lisa's mum Rita took photos in the studio. Lisa's been in Zambia for 4 months as a volunteer with African Impact, and together with friend Saskia has been teaching PE at various schools around Livingstone: Mwandi Community School, Dambwa Christian Community School and Nakatindi Community School, amongst others. Had she enjoyed it? Yes she had. Nico and Rita, (Rita celebrated her birthday at Chanters Lodge during the week), are on a two week visit to see Lisa to explore Livingstone. Were they worried when Lisa first told her parents she was going to work in Africa? Not really.

"Is it true Nico" asked Milli Jam "that you appear on radio in Holland?" "Yes" replied Nico, "I have a 5 hour radio programme on Saturday afternoon sport on Heemskerk Radio and funnily enough it also airs on 107.5 fm". "Are you a commentator?" (I don't like them much!) "Yes" replied Nico. "What do you shout when there's a goal?" I asked. "I do it the Brazilian way" said Nico and shouted "Goaaaaaaaaal!" Very loudly! The family live in Heemskerk near the sea. Nico supports AZ Alkmaar Dutch Premier League Champions.

"Richard says you're also Chairman of a football club in Holland" said Milli Jam to Nico when we'd recovered from his 'goaaaaaaal!' And Nico confirmed that he's Chairman of Odin 59, one of Holland's biggest amateur football clubs. "Do you earn your living working on radio?" I asked. Nico replied that he didn't, he's worked for Rabobank in Holland for 20+ years. "Can you arrange a loan for Milli Jam and George?" He couldn't!

Apart from 'Silly Boy' we played 'It's Over' by Ne-Yo; a General Kanene local number; two Buddy Holly tracks - 'Peggy Sue' and 'Rave On', and 'I Believe' by R Kelly. 'Battlefield' by Jordin Sparks and 'Chipondo Chandi' by the late great Akim Simukonda (in its time an anthem at The Ridgeway) rounded off a thoroughly interesting and varied play list. We closed with 'One More Night' by Phil Collins.

"You married?" We asked Lisa. Hoots of laughter! "I'm only 21" she replied "that's much too young in Holland to get married". "Boyfriend?" persisted Milli Jam. "Hundreds!" Said Lisa, giggling again. Lisa's doing a degree in Teacher Training (Sport) at the Academy of Physical Education (Academie voor Lichamelijke Oproeding) in Amsterdam. She's a soccer player and even roped her dad in to play for African Impact in one of the Livingstone compounds - I didn't get who they played against, but they'd proudly won 4-1! Fit, in a word! Lisa and her dad even walked up the 6 flights of stairs to the studio!

We gave away our normal dinner for two, greeted family, Guests and staff, and when asked what message Lisa and Nico had for the listeners, they both said what a friendly welcome they'd all had in Livingstone and wished everyone well. Finally Milli Jam asked Nico and Lisa where they'd like to be and what they'd like to be doing 10 years from now. Lisa replied that she couldn't possible answer, she had far too much she wanted to do and didn't know where it would lead. Nico said he hoped to be in good health and playing with his grandchildren. Rita laughed and Lisa blushed! Great show!



Posted: 19 May 2009 at 05:40