Commentary By Hank F. Miller Jr. 

 

Some people collect rocks. Others stamps . 

Still others beer cans.My own collection, however, is a you see, I collect bloopers-more specifically, language bloopers. 

Not those of flick chicks flubbing their lines, nor those of the print media gumming up spellings. Nor even those of Japanese English learners bungling their \”L\’s\” and \”R\’s\”to announce they at\”clam school, insread of\”cram school\”and so on. 

 

Nope. My collection is much more personal then those mentioned. For I Package together the boo-boos we foreigners make in Japanese. 

As shch, I am intimately involved.I am both collector and collectee, observer and observed, cameraman and model, hunter and not -so-elusive quarry. 

 

Let me shamelessly say my collection,-\”Japanese made funny\”- has really become interesting and even some of my friends here are starting to collect and trade their findings when we get together occasionally and it certainly is a real panic !  

 

The girl in the countryside who entered an outdoor\”onesn= hot spring spa\”,only to find a fat cow in the water with her. This, understandably , vexed her to no end. So she shooed it out and then clubbed it to death with a wooden stool. 

Or so she explained to a Japanese friend,not knowing she had goofed the key word.  

For rather than \”ushi,\”which means \”cow,\” she had meant to say \” mushi,\”which means \”Bug.\” \”Wow,\” her friend thought.\”This is one tough women,I gotta watch her.\” 

Then there is the story of a girl who could not get her closet door to close. With guests due at any minute, she phoned her landlord to see if he might run up stairs to help her wiggle the darned thing shut.Except she mistook the word for closet, \”oshi-ire,\” with the word \”oshiri.\” 

That\’s right. She told her landlord that she couldn\’t get her butt closed. And that she needed his help because she didn\’t want her guests to peek inside. 

 

Women aren\’t the only ones who trip up badely in the Japanese language. Take the case of a guy who showed up at his boss\’s house one night with some papers to be signed. 

He rang the bell and momentarily the door was opened by a petite young girl in a T-shirt and tight jeans, his boss\’s teenage daughter. 

The man eyed her up and down and then asked, \”Sumimasen. Ochichi wa?\”He had assumed he was using the polite form for \”father\”and that his question was thus,\”Excuse me.Where is your honorable dad?\”But\”\”ochichi\” means something very different. And what the trimfigured girl heard was:\”Excuse me. Where are your breasts?\” 

 

Next we have the tale of a good friend who drove off in search of a well-known temple. 

When he got lost, he asked a women along the road if she could tell him the way.When the women replied that she had no idea, my friend shot back that she must know because the temple was very famous and quite popular with tourists.Yet the women stuck to her words and there was no such place nearby. However, she did have a \”regular\” temple at her house at which my friend was very welcome. He sped away,thinking the women to be somewhat odd nut.  

Only later did he realize that instead of the word for temple,\”otera,\” he had mistakenly said \”otearai.\”Which means toilet.  

Another friend, on a holiday at the seashore, shouted frantically to prevent a group of school girls from entering the waves. 

\”Don\’t go in, girls ! The water\’s full of jellyfish!\” Only he mixed the words\”kurage\” and \”karaage.\” Which resulted in the girls hearing: Don\’t go in, girls! The water\’s full of fried chicken!\” 

 

The same good-hearted friend also tried to protect a pair of female hikers in the mountains near here.\”Don\’t go down that path, girls ! I saw a huge snake there. \”He stretched his arms wide. \”It was this long ! Maybe longer!\”Except in place of \”hebi,\” which means \”snake,\” he instead used \”ebi\”which means \”shrimp.\”The girls avoided the path. They also avoided my friend,probably thinking he\’s some kind on nut case. 

 

Of course, more than just a few of the bloopers in \”Japanese Made Funny\”are pearls from my very own lips.  

Isn\’t that amazing just when you thought that you have excelled in the Japanese language. Wow ! What next.  

 

Of these,the one that is usually told first in our Miller family folklore, is the day that my wife caughed up a small amount of blood-\”chi\” in Japanese. I immediately phoned a doctor friend and explained what happened. 

The doctor kept calm,but my wife and children did not.They began to hoot like loons. 

For I had told the doctor my wife had vomited \”hi\”… which means \”fire.\”  

The doctor began to laugh, and I then realized I had made another a boo-boo. 

But my wife survived.And so did my pride just barely. 

 

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan 

 

Hank F. Miller Jr. 

A reader submitted these photos along with her remarks about a recent visit to Fort Nassau Park, on Johnson Blvd., across from Martins Lake.

\”The other day I took my children to Fort Nassau Park and was astonished to find such deplorable conditions. Besides trash all over and no trash cans, crossing the tracks there was a drain with rusty colored water (didn\’t look very healthy).

More disturbing was the graffiti all over the equipment.

Inside the tube was spray painted Die N$%%er and a swastika along with many curse words just not a nice experience. When the new council members were elected two years ago they promised to keep after the City Highway Department to maintain this site.

They also promised to increase police patrols in the area to stop the vandalism. I am sure they are trying but if anything the Park looks no different than it did before they were elected.\”

Mark your calendar for June 10 and TCNJ\’s 17th Annual Lions\’ Club Golf Outing

TCNJ\’s athletic department will hold their 17th Annual Lions\’ Club Golf Outing on Tuesday, June 10 at nearby Mercer Oaks East Course. To learn more…

Media Release April 17

Ewing, NJ – The Lions of the seventh-ranked Lions of The College of New Jersey hosted Rowan University on Thursday at George Ackerman Park in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference contest. Rowan needed 10 innings but came away with the 9-5 win over the Lions to improve to 23-8 overall and 8-4 in the NJAC. TCNJ drops to 23-9 overall and 9-3 in the conference.

The game saw four lead changes and two ties before Rowan tacked on four runs in the top of the tenth to triumph, marking a split for the two teams on the season.

In the top of the sixth, junior John MCMullin (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) gave Rowan a 4-3 lead after collecting a three-run home run to left center field, his fourth of the year. The lead marked the Profs’ second lead of the game after opening with a 1-0 lead after the top of the second inning.

TCNJ would tie the action at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of unearned runs as senior Matt Barrett (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) was hit by a pitch to reach and would score before pinch runner Elliot Stein (Middletown, DE/Middletown) scored on a throwing error by the short stop.

In the tenth, senior Joe Franceschini (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) reached after being hit by TCNJ’s junior Eric Gertie (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) and moved to second on a ground out. Senior Paul Urbanovich (Rutherford, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep) doubled to left center field driving in Franceschini. McMullin would reach on a strikeout passed ball and a wild pitch moved Urbanovich over. A Lion error allowed another Prof baserunner before junior Garrett Mull (Chatsworth, NJ/Lenape) would triple to drive in two runs and put Rowan up for good.

Rowan’s senior starting pitcher Ryan Kulik (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) worked six innings and gave five runs, all unearned and struck out six, while walking three in the no decision. Rookie Todd Burdette (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) worked three innings in earning his first collegiate victory and stands at 1-0 after three scoreless innings with no hits and three strikeouts. Junior reliever Kevin O’Hara (Clayton, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) earned his fifth save after an inning of work with a hit and a strikeout.

TCNJ’s senior Nick Amabile (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) worked 5.2 innings for the Lions before senior Brad Kittle (Millville, NJ/Millville) entered the contest and worked 2.2 innings with just two hits and a pair of walks and strikeouts before junior Eric Gertie came in the contest and suffered the loss (3-2) after 1.2 innings of work allowing four runs of which only one was earned with a pair of hits and three strikeouts for the game.

At the plate, TCNJ’s senior catcher Rich Gawlak (Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro-South) was 1-5 but drove in a pair of runs for the Lions while senior Bill Kropp (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) and sophomore Chris Esperon (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) were each 2-5.

Rowan’s McMullin finished the day with a 205 effort with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Mull added a 2-3 effort with a pair of runs driven in.

Gloucester City High School

Alumni Assoc.

\”Annual Scholarship Social\”

 

\”ELVIS SINGS AGAIN\”

Saturday, April 19, 2008 7 p.m. \’til Midnight

Brooklawn American Legion Hall – Second & Railroad Avenues

● Hot Buffet ● Beer ● Set-Ups ● Door Prizes ● D.J. $25 Donation

Tickets can be purchased at Shapes \’N Forms, Carr\’s Hardware or RolFerry\’s

 

For more information and tickets call –

856-456-5511, 856-456-4580 or 856-627-3617

(All proceeds benefit \”Scholarship Fund\”)

By Army Sgt. Waldemar Rivera Special to American Forces Press Service CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 16, 2008 – U.S. and Iraqi soldiers made April 13 a happy day for Iraqi children at two schools near Taji, northwest of Baghdad. Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 34th Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, hand out toys at the Asim bin Omar school in Sab Al Bour, northwest of Baghdad, April 13, 2008. During Operation Bounty Hunter Pencil, the Iraqi soldiers worked with Company A, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team \”Warrior,\” 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, to hand out toys and school supplies to children. Photo by Army Sgt. Waldemar Rivera, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division\’s 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team \”Warrior,\” and Iraqi soldiers from the 9th Infantry Division\’s 1st Battalion, 34th Brigade, brought toys and school supplies donated by American children to the Iraqi students in a mission dubbed Operation Bounty Hunter Pencil. Army 2nd Lt. Lauren Bowen, a native of Roscoe, Ill., and a platoon leader with Company A, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, conveyed the American children\’s spirit of giving. \”These toys were sent to you children with lots of love from the American people,\” Bowen told a classroom full of children at the Asim bin Omar school in Sab Al Bour. The U.S. and Iraqi soldiers helped distribute the toys and school supplies among the rows of children in the classrooms. After the distribution of gifts was done and after a signal from the teacher, the children said, \”Thank you very much\” in English as a token of friendship. Army Sgt. 1st Class Yvonne Barnes, a Lane, S.C., native, said it was an honor to deliver toys and school supplies from American children to the Iraqi children. \”It was my first contact with Iraqi children, and I was impressed of how well the children verbalized English phrases such as, \’Thank you very much,\’\” said Barnes, the operations sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 225th Brigade Support Battalion. Next, the convoy headed toward the That Al Natakhein school, also in the town of Sab Al Bour. Toys and school supplies were distributed among the students by soldiers from both armies, once again under the supervision of school officials. The event closed with a promise from Bowen to return to both schools with more gifts from the American people. (Army Sgt. Waldemar Rivera serves in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division\’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)

Related Sites: Multinational Corps Iraq

Army Sgt. 1st Class Yvonne Barnes, a Lane, S.C., native, talks to a child April 13, 2008, at the Asim bin Omar school in Sab Al Bour, northwest of Baghdad. Barnes, along with members of her unit and soldiers from the Iraqi army, handed out school supplies and toys to children as part of Operation Bounty Hunter Pencil. Barnes serves as an operations sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team \”Warrior,\” 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by Army Sgt. Waldemar Rivera, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad

 

Mt. Ephraim School District Press Release:

 DVD’s were collected during these past fall and winter months from the Mt. Ephraim Public Schools, various town organizations and members from the community to send to our troops overseas. In February four large boxes of DVD movies and music CD’s were received by the Strykehorse Troopers in Iraq

. These young men and women have asked that we share their letter of appreciation to all of the individuals that contributed to this cause.

 

 

Thursday, April 17, 2008

313 Monmouth Street

AGENDA

1. Call to Order:  
2. Pledge of Allegiance:

3. Roll Call:

4. Sunshine Law: This meeting is being held in conformance with the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, otherwise known as the \”Sunshine Law\”. It has been legally noticed in accordance with the law and copies have been given to those requesting the same.

5. Public Comment Period: The Governing Body, in accordance with P.L. 2002, c. 80, have adopted the following guidelines relative to the Public Comment Period (PCP) at Caucus, Worksession, Special and Emergency Meetings of the Mayor and Common Council of Gloucester City: The PCP shall occur at the beginning of each meeting; it shall be no longer than one half-hour in length; every person wishing to speak may do so once during the period for no longer than five minutes. No changes have been made for the PCP of the regular monthly meetings.

6. Minutes of the Previous Meeting(s): April 7, 2008 (pending)

7. Reports: I. Departmental Reports

II. Committees of Council:

1. Celebrations

b) Finance & Administration

c) Fire

1. Housing
2. Licensing
3. Police

g) Public Works

8. Licenses: None

9. Resolutions:

R113 Correcting Billing Charges on Utility Records

R114 Authorizing Senior and Veterans Deductions

R115 Making Adjustments to Tax Records

R116 Returning Overpayments on Various Tax Records

R117 Awarding a Contract to International Fireworks Manufacturing Co. for Extraordinary Unspecifiable Services

R118 Amending Resolution #085-2008 – Gloucester City Urban Enterprise Zone Project \”Business Recruitment/Retention & Shopper Awareness via Special Events – Year 2 \”

R119 Authorizing the City of Gloucester City to Enter Into an Access Agreement with Public Service Electric & Gas

R120 Authorizing a Person –to-Person and Place-to-Place Transfer of Non Sited Plenary Retail Consumption Liquor License 0414-33-030-003

R121 Authorizing Refunds on the Planning and Zoning Board Escrow Account

R122 Authorizing the Sale of City Owned Vehicles

R123 Authorizing Economic Development Loan from the City of Gloucester City Façade Improvement Loan Program to Bridges Real Estate LLC

R124 Awarding a Contract to Triad Associates for Extraordinary Unspecifiable Services

 

 

 

10. Ordinances:

TABLED until April 24, 2008:  

O01 Vacating a Portion of Cumberland Street, Located within the City of Gloucester City, County of Camden and State of New Jersey

For second reading and public hearing this evening:

O07 Amending Chapter 87 of the Code of Gloucester City Entitled Vehicle and Traffic, Providing for New Section 87-4.1 and 87-9.1 Regarding \”All Way Stop Intersections\”

O08 Amending Fees, Professional Fees, and Escrows for the Gloucester City Combined Planning Board

11. Old Business:

a)

12. New Business:

a)

13. Communications:

a) From Highland Park Neighborhood Association – request for City to provide monthly cost of electrical service for fountains.

b) From Gloucester Catholic High School – request for use of Proprietor\’s Park on April 21^st

c) From Gloucester City Girl Scout Brownie Troop 942 – request for use of Proprietor\’s Park on June 7^th.

d) NJSLM Bulletin

e) From Patrick J. Healey – resignation from UEZ Board

e) From Rescom Environmental Corp. – Proposed Telecommunications – 912 Paul Street

f) From Key Engineers – Master Plan Re-Exam Haddon Township

g) Welsbach Progress Report

14. Round Table:

15. Closed Session: Resolution #R -2008 to enter into closed session for discussion of:

16. Adjournment

RIBCHINSKY Michael
On April 16, 2008. Age 45. Of National Park. Loving Husband of 21 years to Peggy Ribchinsky (nee Murphy). Loving father of Michael, Ryan, and Colin Ribchinsky. Beloved son of Rosemary Farrell and Fred (Jenny) Ribchinsky. Dear brother of Deneene (Chris) Cutuli and Joey (Sandy)Ribchinsky. Also survived by many aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Michael worked over 10 years for the Woodbury Board or Education. He loved watching his sons play in various sporting events.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend his viewing on Sunday evening from7 to 9 pm and again Monday morning from 8:30 to 10 am at the McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME: 851 Monmouth St. (at Brown St.) Gloucester City, NJ 08030. Phone: 856-456-1142. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 am at St. Matthew\’s R.C. Church: 4th Street and Monument Ave., National Park, NJ. Interment New St. Mary\’s Cemetery, Bellmawr.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the Ribchinsky Children\’sEducation Fund: c/o Margaret Ribchinsky, P.O. Box 358, Gloucester City,NJ 08030. Expressions of sympathy can be sent to the family through ourfuneral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Michael Ribchinsky.