No one knows how much money Dr. Lyle Tullis gave away to students. I was his colleague for nearly a decade and I never stopped being amazed at his generosity. Our college has a program of providing cross-cultural experiences for students. Lots of students take advantage of summer experience oversea. I discovered that no group left for overseas with some of its members receiving financial help from Dr. Tullis.

    It wasn't that he made a lot of money. For one thing, he taught in a church-run school. There, his salary was half of what those people earned in a tax-supported school.

    Other colleagues occasionally complained about the low pay. Not Lyle Tullis. Occasionally some professors would leave our campus for a better-paid position. They told me they did so because, with better pay, they could provide for their families.

    The size of Lyle Tullis' paycheck never seemed to be the most important thing to him. I realized that one day when I was thanking him for helping a student, his eyes shone as he said to me, “I've got so much money that I don't know what to do with it. So, I just give it away.”

    Most people wouldn't have thought that way. Dr. Tullis drove one of the oldest cars on campus. It was even older than almost any of the students' cars. His home, while comfortable, was not fancy at all. But Lyle Tullis lived with the feeling that he had so much money that he needed to give it away.

    He was one of the favorite on campus. Cynics(愤世嫉俗者) might say he bought fame. But they would misunderstand. Lyle wanted to devote his life, all of it, to helping others.

    Messages in honor of Stan Lee are pouring in on social media and other online sites.

    Lee is the creator of famous comic book characters, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther and others. He died in Los Angeles, California, Monday. He was 95 years old.

    Marvel Entertainment and its parent company, Walt Disney, posted a video about the late writer, editor and publisher on their websites.

    Disney chairman and chief Bob Iger said Lee is "a super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world." He compared Lee to his comic book characters with "the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect."

    Lee was born Stanley Martin Leiber in New York City. He began writing for comic books at 19. He wrote under the name Stan Lee. He explained that he used a false name because he wanted to write a serious and great piece of literature someday. He did not want his link with comic books to be known when that happened. But it never did happen. As the pride in his work grew, he decided to legally change his name to Stan Lee.

    Lee's comic book heroes stand apart from its competitor DC, the company that produced the seemingly perfect heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Lee's character often had super power, but they also had weaknesses and moral failings. In a piece for Marvel in 1969, Lee discussed the importance of creating these balanced characters. Nobody is all good, or all bad, he wrote, like Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. He is a deeply gifted inventor with serious mental health issues; or, Peter Parker, a sensitive, brainy high-school student who has no idea how to deal with the frightening abilities he gets from the bite of a radioactive spider. Even Steve Rogers, whose Captain America was the most Superman-like of the Marvel group, had problems. Rejected as a candidate for the armed forces, he volunteers to take a "supersoldier" substance to make him a super-fighting machine.

    Actor Chris Evans has played that character in several Hollywood films. He posted a tribute to Captain America's creator on Twitter Monday. “There will never be another Stan Lee,” he wrote. Actor, writer and funny man Seth Rogen never played one of Lee's characters but he remembered him with thanks in a tweet. “Thank you Stan Lee for making people who feel different realize they are special,” he wrote.

    Christmas is a great time with family and friends. One of the best ways to bond with (团结)one another is through games. So why not play some great Christmas party games?

    Present pickup is a great game for both young and young at heart. It can be played inside or outside. To prepare for the game, you will need to have some small boxes and some small gift bags. This is a great way to use the paper from last year. There should be as many presents as players. You'll also need four or more candy canes(甘蔗). Two large boxes can be used to drop the presents in.

    Two ropes will be needed. Take one rope and make a starting line. The other rope will mark the finish line. Place the large boxes at the finish line. Equally divide the presents into two groups. It's best to have an equal number of boxes and bags on each side to make it fair.

    The first player on each team will take two candy canes. When it's time to start, they'll pick up the presents only using the candy canes. Each player must run his present to the box or finish line and drop it in. If it's dropped on the way, the player starts over. After they drop their presents, the players will run the candy canes to the next players. This continues until all the presents have been picked up. The first team to finish wins.

    To play kids against adults, you may want to put easier presents in a group for the kids and more difficult ones for the adults. There are many variations to the game, so have some fun and come up with your own.

    Upcoming Events of New York Chinese Cultural Center

    Fan Dance

    Sunday, September8, 2:00pm-3:00 pm, $15 per child

    New-York Historical Society Museum & Library

    Learn Chinese fan dancing with an instructor from NYCCC! This program is a part of an exhibition which examines the history of trade and immigration between China and the United States.

    Dragon Boat Festival

    Friday, September13,2:00pm -2:30pm

    Fresh Meadows Park

    Come and celebrate with us in the thousand-year-old tradition of Dragon Boat racing! Be part of the audience and enjoy the excitement of this celebration. FREE ADMISSION! Click here for more information. Dragon Boat Festival will be held in Fresh Meadows Park.

    Dance to China

    Sunday, September15, 2 pm

Spruce Street School Auditorium, 12 Spruce St, New York, NY 10038

Join us in celebrating 43 years of preserving and continuing Chinese traditional dance. Students from NYCCC School of the Arts will be performing traditional Chinese dance, martial arts, and Beijing opera. Cost is $15 for adults, $12 for teenagers and senior citizens, $10 for children under 12.

    NYCCC School of the Arts Open House

    Saturday, September21, from 1:00pm -3:00 pm, $12 per child

    PS 124, Yung Wing School, 40 Division Street, New York, NY 10002

    Join us and see Chinese dance, kung fu, and acrobatic (杂技的)performances performed by our current students. Come and see our students' beautiful artwork on display and make some artwork yourselves during our hour of arts and crafts and face painting from 1-2 pm. The show will be from 2-3pm.

International Literature Festival Dublin（ ILFD）is now seeking plans for its 2024 programme edition responding to the theme of "Words Upside Down". For this year's open call, ILFD invites artists, creative practitioners（从业人员）and groups from all arts backgrounds to give in event plans responding to the theme and suitable for showing at ILFD's new Literary（文学的）Village in one of Dublin City's finest parks, Merrion Square Park, running from 17th to 26th of May, 2024.

We encourage plans which accept curiosity and wonder, cause conversation or new ways of listening. This year, we are especially interested in work that will bring its audience in close contact with either the natural or the artificial（人工的）world or both. We welcome plans which are suitable for audiences aged 16 and above. Above all, we welcome plans that break away from the forms of traditional literary events. We are only able to accept plans made from artists based in the island of Ireland.

Successful applicants（申请人）will be supported by the festival team to bring their ideas to life during this year's programme which will be presented in Dublin City's Merrion Square Park. The closing date for applications is Monday 11th of March, 5 pm.

Conditions: 

●The content of the plan must be presented during the festival dates.

●The festival expects that the artist or author is able to work independently and has a clear idea for the operation of their plan.

●The festival will provide access to its technological equipment（projectors, speakers, media players, etc）.

●Funds ranging from €500 to €1,000 are provided for each project.

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along his route. No problems for the first few stops—a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back. The driver was five feet three, thin, and basically mild-mannered. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it.

The next day the same thing happened—Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the one after that, and so forth.

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong—what's more, felt really good about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said. "Big John doesn't pay!" the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, "Oh, yeah? And why not?" With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has a bus pass."