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Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
John Peck, underground cartoonist known as The Mad Peck, dies at 82
'To me, he would be a Top 10 cartoonist, a Top 10 DJ, a Top 10 rock critic,' Kenton said. Advertisement Mr. Peck illustrated one of the first scholarly works on the importance of comic books. And he was perhaps the first cartoonist to write record reviews in four-panel comic-strip form. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He also wrote an academic paper in 1983 with literary commentator Michael Macrone about the evolution of television; its title, 'How J.R. Got Out of the Air Force and What the Derricks Mean,' playfully referenced phallic symbolism in the oil-soaked prime-time soap opera 'Dallas.' Mr. Peck once called it his 'crowning achievement.' His comic-strip music critiques appeared in Fusion, Creem, Rolling Stone, and other music publications, and in The Village Voice. He worked in a retro style repurposed from the 1940s and '50s and wrote with sardonic humor ('Is There Life After Meatloaf?'), while offering trustworthy criticism. 'As far as I know, he was the first to do it,' Kenton said. 'Some people were drawing cartoons with people from the Grateful Dead in it, but John was reviewing the records. He wasn't just making a joke.' Advertisement Peter Wolf, former lead singer of the J. Geils Band, for whom Mr. Peck designed a T-shirt that became the group's logo, said in an interview: 'I can't think of anybody else who did it, that 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' style. For me, he was an original.' A 1971 J. Geils Band T-shirt designed by Providence artist "The Mad Peck" (aka John Peck). David Bieber Archives Mr. Peck also made concert posters for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and, most notably, for the final concert in the United States by British supergroup Cream, in Providence in November 1968. The poster featured the band's name in a faux advertisement for unfiltered Camel cigarettes, which Mr. Peck smoked for 50 years. The Providence Journal reported that one of the posters sold for more than $3,000 in 2016. 'To me he was an important figure of that era,' cartoonist and illustrator Drew Friedman said. 'I thought it was fascinating how he was going back and forth between modern times and the past.' In Providence, Mr. Peck was most popular for a noirish 1978 poster commenting on the city, which at first seemed snarly but was ultimately sanguine. It remains popular. The poster's comic-book-style panels, referencing actual street names, read, in part: 'And Friendship is a one way street. Rich folks live on Power Street. But most of us live off Hope.' Mr. Peck illustrated 'Comix: A History of Comic Books in America' (1971), written by a friend, historian Les Daniels, which was among the first serious appraisals of the subject. And, in an embrace of low art and a critique of what he viewed as the snobbery of television criticism, Mr. Peck became a TV critic himself. Advertisement In a 1987 interview with Terry Gross of NPRs 'Fresh Air,' Mr. Peck said he believed that all forms of popular culture were connected: 'When you get down there on the street level or on the consumer level, people don't really make the distinctions between one medium and the other.' In that same interview, Mr. Peck mused about the cultural absurdities and contradictions of television. While humans worried about too much exposure in front of the screen, he dryly noted, the pig named Arnold Ziffel, a porcine couch potato seen on the 1960s sitcom 'Green Acres,' was held in 'very high esteem' for watching TV constantly, 'because watching television is such a breakthrough for an animal.' Mr. Peck's lack of widespread recognition was partly by choice. He sometimes wore disguises and claimed not to have allowed himself to be photographed for half a century. Wolf, who became a friend, described Mr. Peck affectionately as a phantom in a hat and trench coat, pale and with nicotine-stained fingers, who 'always seemed to appear out of the dark end of the street.' When Friedman included an illustration of Mr. Peck in his book 'Maverix and Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix' (2022), he first had to figure out what he looked like, whether that was his real name, and whether he was a single person or a group of people. 'He was the Keyser Söze of underground comics,' Friedman said, referring to the evasive character at the center of the 1995 movie 'The Usual Suspects.' Mr. Peck acknowledged to The Providence Journal in 2016 that he worked with a clip-art ethos of 'don't draw what you can trace, and don't trace what you can paste,' and that he had 'an inability to draw anything more complex than psychedelic hand lettering.' Advertisement His ideas relied heavily on retooling the work of Matt Baker, who was among the first Black cartoonists to gain success in the 1940s and '50s, whose characters included scantily dressed female crime fighters and who also worked on romance comics. Such extensive borrowing 'probably put him at odds with some of the more serious underground cartoonists,' said Steven Heller, co-chair emeritus of the Master of Fine Arts Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. 'In the broader picture, now that we're talking about history, it mattered.' John Frederick Peck was born Nov. 16, 1942, in Brooklyn and grew up in Connecticut. His father, Frank Peck, was assistant superintendent of public schools in Fairfield, Conn., and then in Greenwich. His mother, Eleanor Mary (Delavina) Peck, was a teacher. Mr. Peck came to cartooning via an unconventional path, after receiving a degree in electrical engineering in 1967 from Brown University. Engineering was a career choice more his parents' wish than his own; Mr. Peck instead went underground, forming a publishing collective known as Mad Peck Studios, whose cartoons, rock posters, humorous advertisements, and reviews were anthologized in 1987. As a disc jockey with the moniker Dr. Oldie, Mr. Peck, who referred to himself as 'the dean of the University of Musical Perversity,' hosted a weekly radio show in Providence called 'Giant Juke Box' for more than a decade until 1983. He played doo-wop, R&B, early rock 'n' roll, and novelty songs, and he became an early proponent of mixtapes. Advertisement Mr. Peck leaves his sisters. His marriage to Vicky (Oliver) Peck, a humorist who had helped create his cartoons and who went by the comic persona I.C. Lotz., ended in the late 1970s. Mr. Peck scoured flea markets, yard sales, record stores, and discount emporiums for records and other cultural ephemera, which occupied two floors of his house, a cluttered domicile that did not always have heat or running water. His record library was said to include roughly 30,000 singles and several thousand albums. Some might have considered him a hoarder, but his friends called him an archivist, because his collections were organized and labeled. 'For a guy who smoked a lot of pot, he didn't forget anything,' said Jeff Heiser, who co-hosted Mr. Peck's radio program for five years. 'He had this stuff down cold.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
John Peck, Underground Cartoonist Known as The Mad Peck, Dies at 82
John Peck, a cultural omnivore known as The Mad Peck whose dryly humorous style as an underground cartoonist, artist, critic, disc jockey and record collector was accompanied by an ornate eccentricity, died on March 15 in Providence, R.I. He was 82. The cause of his death, in a hospital, was a ruptured aneurysm in his aorta, said his sisters, Marie Peck and Lois Barber. Mr. Peck was not as well known or acclaimed as underground cartoonists like Robert Crumb or Art Spiegelman. That was perhaps in part because his interests were so broad, Gary Kenton, who edited him at Fusion and Creem magazines from the late 1960s into the '70s, said in an interview. 'To me, he would be a Top 10 cartoonist, a Top 10 D.J., a Top 10 rock critic,' Mr. Kenton said. Mr. Peck illustrated one of the first scholarly works on the importance of comic books. And he was perhaps the first cartoonist to write record reviews in four-panel comic-strip form. He also wrote an academic paper in 1983 with the literary commentator Michael Macrone about the evolution of television; its title, 'How J.R. Got Out of the Air Force and What the Derricks Mean,' playfully referenced phallic symbolism in the oil-soaked prime-time soap opera 'Dallas.' Mr. Peck once called it his 'crowning achievement.' His comic-strip music critiques appeared in Fusion, Creem, Rolling Stone and other music publications, and in The Village Voice. He worked in a retro style repurposed from the 1940s and '50s and wrote with sardonic humor ('Is There Life After Meatloaf?'), while offering trustworthy criticism. 'As far as I know, he was the first to do it,' Mr. Kenton said. 'Some people were drawing cartoons with people from the Grateful Dead in it, but John was reviewing the records. He wasn't just making a joke.' Peter Wolf, the former lead singer of the J. Geils Band, for whom Mr. Peck designed a T-shirt that became the group's logo, said in an interview: 'I can't think of anybody else who did it, that 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' style. For me, he was an original.' Mr. Peck also made concert posters for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and, most notably, for the final concert in the United States by the British supergroup Cream, in Providence in November 1968. The poster featured the band's name in a faux advertisement for unfiltered Camel cigarettes, which Mr. Peck smoked for 50 years. The Providence Journal reported that one of the posters sold for more than $3,000 in 2016. 'To me he was an important figure of that era,' the cartoonist and illustrator Drew Friedman said. 'I thought it was fascinating how he was going back and forth between modern times and the past.' In Providence, Mr. Peck was most popular for a noirish 1978 poster commenting on the city, which at first seemed snarly but was ultimately sanguine. It remains popular. The poster's comic-book-style panels, referencing actual street names, read, in part: 'And Friendship is a one way street. Rich folks live on Power Street. But most of us live off Hope.' Mr. Peck illustrated 'Comix: A History of Comic Books in America' (1971), written by a friend, the historian Les Daniels, which was among the first serious appraisals of the subject. And, in an embrace of low art and a critique of what he viewed as the snobbery of television criticism, Mr. Peck became a TV critic himself. In a 1987 interview with Terry Gross of NPRs 'Fresh Air,' Mr. Peck said he believed that all forms of popular culture were connected: 'When you get down there on the street level or on the consumer level, people don't really make the distinctions between one medium and the other.' In that same interview, Mr. Peck mused about the cultural absurdities and contradictions of television. While humans worried about too much exposure in front of the screen, he dryly noted, the pig named Arnold Ziffel, a porcine couch potato seen on the 1960s sitcom 'Green Acres,' was held in 'very high esteem' for watching TV constantly, 'because watching television is such a breakthrough for an animal.' Mr. Peck's lack of widespread recognition was partly by choice. He sometimes wore disguises and claimed not to have allowed himself to be photographed for half a century. Mr. Wolf, who became a friend, described Mr. Peck affectionately as a phantom in a hat and trench coat, pale and with nicotine-stained fingers, who 'always seemed to appear out of the dark end of the street.' When Mr. Friedman included an illustration of Mr. Peck in his book 'Maverix and Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix' (2022), he first had to figure out what Mr. Peck looked like, whether that was his real name, and whether he was a single person or a group of people. 'He was the Keyser Söze of underground comics,' Mr. Friedman said, referring to the evasive character at the center of the 1995 movie 'The Usual Suspects.' Mr. Peck acknowledged to The Providence Journal in 2016 that he worked with a clip-art ethos of 'don't draw what you can trace, and don't trace what you can paste,' and that he had 'an inability to draw anything more complex than psychedelic hand lettering.' His ideas relied heavily on retooling the work of Matt Baker, who was among the first Black cartoonists to gain success in the 1940s and '50s, whose characters included scantily dressed female crime fighters and who also worked on romance comics. Such extensive borrowing 'probably put him at odds with some of the more serious underground cartoonists,' said Steven Heller, co-chairman emeritus of the Master of Fine Arts Design program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. 'In the broader picture, now that we're talking about history, it mattered.' John Frederick Peck was born on Nov. 16, 1942, in Brooklyn and grew up in Connecticut. His father, Frank Peck, was assistant superintendent of public schools in Fairfield, Conn., and later held a similar position in Greenwich. His mother, Eleanor Mary (Delavina) Peck, was a teacher. Mr. Peck came to cartooning via an unconventional path, after receiving a degree in electrical engineering in 1967 from Brown University in Providence. Engineering was a career choice more his parents' wish than his own; Mr. Peck instead went underground, forming a publishing collective known as Mad Peck Studios, whose cartoons, rock posters, humorous advertisements and reviews were anthologized in 1987. As a disc jockey with the moniker Dr. Oldie, Mr. Peck, who referred to himself as 'the dean of the University of Musical Perversity,' hosted a weekly radio show in Providence called 'Giant Juke Box' for more than a decade until 1983. He played doo-wop, R&B, early rock 'n' roll and novelty songs, and he became an early proponent of mixtapes. He also partnered for decades with a friend, Jeff Heiser — who also co-hosted Mr. Peck's radio program for five years — in organizing conventions for record collectors. Mr. Peck's sisters are his only immediate survivors. His marriage to Vicky (Oliver) Peck, a humorist who had helped create his cartoons and who went by the comic persona I.C. Lotz., ended in the late 1970s. Mr. Peck scoured flea markets, yard sales, record stores and discount emporiums for records and other cultural ephemera, which occupied two floors of his house, a cluttered domicile that did not always have heat or running water. His record library was said to include roughly 30,000 singles and several thousand albums. Some might have considered him a hoarder, but his friends called him an archivist, because his collections were organized and labeled. 'For a guy who smoked a lot of pot, he didn't forget anything,' Mr. Heiser said. 'He had this stuff down cold.'
Listly
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Listly
Best Things to Do in Pattaya: Exploring Thailand's Coastal Playground
Pattaya's cabaret shows, like the Alcazar and Tiffany's, are world-famous for their dazzling performances, colourful costumes, and incredible artistry. These shows are a must-see for their celebration of Thai culture and entertainment. For a more quirky experience, visit unique museums such as Ripley's Believe It or Not! and the Museum of Illusions. Ripley's offers a mix of oddities, interactive exhibits, and fun attractions, while the Museum of Illusions provides mind-bending experiences with optical illusions and creative installations. Both are great for families and those looking for something out of the ordinary.
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Couple who set record for longest kiss in 2013 have now separated
A Thai couple who had set the Guinness World Record for the longest kiss in 2013 have now separated. Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat kissed continuously for 58 hours and 35 minutes, breaking their own 2011 record in 2013. Their first record in 2011 was a 46-hour and 24-minute kiss. However, 56-year-old Mr Ekkachai has now confirmed that they have separated. Mr Ekkachai told BBC News World Service podcast Witness History that he was 'trying to cherish the good memories' and that he is 'very proud" of their Guinness World Record. The record-breaking kiss took place at Ripley's Believe It or Not! event at Pattaya in Thailand, starting on 12 February 2013 and ending on Valentine's Day. He added: 'I am very proud. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We spent a long time together, and I'm trying to cherish the good memories of what we achieved together.' The couple didn't share many details about their separation. Despite parting ways, Ekkachai said that they have respect for each other. During the podcast, which was aired on 17 February, Mr Ekkachai recalled the Guinness competition's gruelling rules, including staying locked in a kiss even during bathroom breaks and transferring water mouth-to-mouth. 'I was stunned by all the rules, but we decided the show must go on, we must commit. That's the decision we had made,' he said. In 2011, when they won, he said: 'My family and friends congratulated me. They were happy for me. In response, I told them, only crazy people would accomplish something like that. A normal person wouldn't try it.' In 2013, they were hesitant to compete. Ms Laksana, who was aged 33 at the time, had just recovered from an illness, and Mr Ekkachai had planned a trip for her instead. However, the lure of a 50,000 Thai Baht prize and a diamond ring convinced them to try again. They had attempted to get their title back in 2012 also but at the time, they lost to another couple as Ekkschai had fallen ill. 'After we lost in 2012 we discussed whether to go back, but we decided we wanted to win back our record. It was our Roman Empire. We wanted to take back what belonged to us,' he said during the podcast. He said: 'We tried to stand straight like statues. Instead of pinching (to stay awake) we were tapping each other on the head with one hand and on the other hand, we were hugging each other to keep each other awake.' They had to beat the record of 50 hours and 25 minutes. And the prize money was two diamond rings and 100,000 Thai baht (around $3,000). When finally they won, Mr Ekkachai recalled that he was so tired that 'I didn't want to stand up anymore. I wanted to drink water. I just wanted to rest and drink.' In 2013, after 15 years, Guinness World Records deactivated the longest kiss category, saying it had become too dangerous and some of the rules conflicted with their current updated policies. Guinness World Record said in a statement on their website at the time: 'Although we no longer monitor the longest kiss record, we have replaced it with something else: the longest kissing marathon. 'The crucial difference, as with all our 'longest marathon' records, is that challengers are permitted rest breaks. After every continuous hour of kissing, challengers earn five minutes of rest, which can be accumulated if not used. 'Challengers are allowed to sleep, eat, and separate their lips during these rest breaks, mitigating the risk of passing out, suffering psychosis, or requiring resuscitation.' Several kissing contest participants have suffered health issues over the years. In 1999, record holders Karmit Tzubera and Dror Orpaz nearly fainted after kissing for 30 hours and had to be hospitalised. In 2004, Andrea Sarti required oxygen after enduring muscle cramps during a 31-hour kiss. In 2011, a contestant passed out just 30 minutes into the challenge. Mr Ekkachai and 45-year-old Laksana are still the final holders of this record before it was deactivated.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
If you were here over the weekend, you may have been exposed, 124 measles cases confirmed across Texas
Editors note: The video above first aired on February 17. The number of confirmed measles cases has risen since. TEXAS (KMID/KPEJ)- The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reporting 124 confirmed cases of measles in an ongoing outbreak affecting the South Plains and Panhandle regions, with potential exposures now identified in cities like San Marcos and San Antonio. In a health alert issued Monday, DSHS warned that a person infected with measles unknowingly traveled from the outbreak area to multiple locations in San Marcos, San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Live Oak, potentially exposing countless people to the highly contagious virus. The agency is now working closely with local health departments to contain the outbreak, offer immunizations, and keep the public informed. Midland Health implements new safety measures as measles cases rise in West Texas Health officials say measles virus particles can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a location. Anyone who visited the following places during the listed time frames may have been exposed: Friday, February 14 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Allsup's Convenience Store, Wall 3 to 7 p.m. – Texas State University, San Marcos 6 to 10 p.m. – Twin Peaks Restaurant, San Marcos Saturday, February 15 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – University of Texas at San Antonio Main Campus 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. – Ripley's Believe It or Not! attractions, San Antonio 6 to 10 p.m. – Mr. Crabby's Seafood, Live Oak Sunday, February 16 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Buc-ee's, New Braunfels 12:30 to 3 p.m. – Allsup's Convenience Store, Wall Measles is an extremely contagious respiratory virus that spreads through airborne particles when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. The virus can cause severe complications, especially in young children, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems. Symptoms typically appear 7 to 21 days after exposure and may include high fevercough and runny nose red, watery eyes, and a rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body. Infant tests positive for measles: The first case confirmed in Odessa A person with measles is contagious four days before the rash appears and up to four days after. Health officials urge anyone who develops symptoms or believes they were exposed to immediately isolate and call a healthcare provider before seeking in-person care to prevent further spread. DSHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasize that the best defense against measles is vaccination. The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is 97% effective in preventing infection after two doses. West Texas measles outbreak grows to 58 cases: Could it spread to our area? First MMR dose at 12 to 15 months old Second dose at 4 to 6 years old For those who missed routine vaccinations, getting immunized before spring and summer travel is strongly encouraged. As the outbreak spreads, Texas health officials urge the public to remain vigilant, get vaccinated, and seek medical guidance if symptoms appear. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
