My Arcade Pocket Arcade Bubble Bobble

My Arcade Pocket Arcade

When will I ever learn? I just saw these on the shelf, and thought "Hey there's Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands together, well that's not too bad."

Again, it turns out these are NES versions of the games, not the arcade originals. This time it should have been obvious as the box screenshots make it very clear.

Now I have to add these are not necessarily bad versions, but this does fall a little short of my expectations.

Rainbow Islands

There are three games, Bubble Bobble, Bubble Bobble 2 and Rainbow Islands, which is the "Story of Bubble Bobble 2". The Bubble Bobble 2 doesn't seem to be "Bubble Symphony" either, which I learned is also sometimes called "Bubble Bobble 2". Discombobulating, isn't it?

Bubble Bobble does what Bubble Bobble does. Many have fond memories of it as a simultaneous two-player game, so the PocketArcade one-player environment can be seen as a limitation.

Bubble Bobble 2

Bubble Bobble 2 was perhaps the most interesting of the three as I had no expectations or anything to compare it to. It's a 1990s NES game, with bigger and more varied graphics, but basically it's quite similar to Bubble Bobble. Perhaps it serves a little better as an one-player game, as each of the screens provides a clear problem-like situation.

Rainbow Islands makes it most painfully obvious that it's not the arcade version. I still guess it's better than the ZX Spectrum and C64 adaptations, but it's a far cry from the near-arcade perfect Amiga conversion. The music no longer has the Somewhere Over the Rainbow quote which is sad.

With not one, but two battery compartments

Physically, Pocket Arcade is quite nice, colourful item and the horizontal layout is natural. It's not flimsy, especially with the batteries it has a reassuring weight to it. Recalling the Pixel Arcade Data East hits handheld, it's an improvement.

The buttons have a good feel to them, and the screen, although tiny, is bright and crisp.

You can power it with 4 AAA batteries or with a micro-USB connector. It's therefore possible to use an external power pack, which is good as I have a 20000mAh workhorse. There's also a headphone connector which can be helpful in some situations. The volume level can be adjusted and muted entirely.

Running with reserve juice

There's some of the usual laziness, you can generally only get back from games and game over screens by using the reset button, which also means the volume level setting becomes reset.

There's no real reason why the product of this size couldn't contain more games, just as the Pixel Arcade did, but maybe it's envisioned as some kind of collectible.

So, why not, a few moments of enjoyment with PocketArcade. For 30-40€ -ish. Gnnh.

Jean-Michel Jarre in Helsinki pt. 2

I had been eyeing the Jean-Michel Jarre 15.6.2025 concert for months, but only bought the ticket at the last moment. I wasn't too attracted by the Helsinki City Festival setting, but the weather seemed fine and I became anxious about missing a Jarre show inside walking distance.

The festival setting was a little dubious. Expensive foods, expensive drinks. People having difficulties walking the stairs, people avoiding the beer because it means having to go to the toilet 15 minutes later. A random audience member with a clandestine air showed me a Phaedra 50th anniversary reissue he had scored. Another was seen becoming teary-eyed hearing the first notes of a mangled Oxygene. Demosceners and hangarounds were in attendance, you know who you are.

T-shirts and merchandise had run out by the time I had arrived, so no Jarre cap for me, sniff.

I did blog about the 2016 indoor show, and although my notes are rather sparse, I can try to invite some comparisons.

Around 2016 Jarre had a lot of new material, including the collaborative Electronica albums. The Snowden-featuring Exit had even made the news. There had been another new Oxygene. So, all seemed rather good for Jarre back then, and it was reflected in the energetic show.

Since then, Jarre has released Equinoxe Infinity, a couple of soundtrack albums and Oxymore, so there's no lack of material to choose from.

I noted in the 2016 indoor concert how the classic songs had received an amped-up and abbreviated treatment. This was just as true now. But the difference here is that this time I wasn't so excited about the material from that era (The Architect, Zero Gravity, Exit) and was on occasions a little puzzled with the more recent tracks (Oxymore).  

It's likely a difficult balance, play the older songs and be accused of becoming a nostalgia act, play a lot of new material and lose the "Jarre signature sound". Jarre has lately associated himself with the EDM tag, which might be a wise move, but it may also have meant skewing the material in a particular direction.

He played a short version of Zoolookologie and I could have easily listened it for a couple of minutes more. At another moment, he switches on abstract techno jam that takes far longer (At least inside my mind). Why nothing from the Chronologie album?

But I have to say I enjoyed the show as it was happening, it's just that in hindsight I felt things could have been made a little differently.

Jarre brought various technologies on stage, such as live video feed glasses to give a POV to his keyboard and gear. This appeared to confirm that he plays the lead melody and can in other ways influence the sound, that he's not just DJ:ing his own material. Sure, all the other songs could have been playback, but there's no real reason why it would need to be so.

But this wasn't one of his large format concerts, so JMJ was on stage alone and you'd only see a glimpse of a technician.

Sun shines almost perpetually in Finland at this time of year, so at this hour you didn't even get the effect of darkening skies for the finale. The lasers and displays were strong enough, the stage utilized these different-sized vertical blocks (monolith-like) for video displays. On occasions this gave a strong sense of integration between the main and side screens, lending a sculptural appearance to the stage.

A number of AI-visuals had crept into the show, and to someone accustomed seeing them daily in social media, it felt a little off. I had a memory of Jarre using something like that already in the 2016 show, which would have been somewhat possible. (Considering the dog-eyed Deep Dream imagery of 2012) But it might be a false memory after seeing some recent live concert material on Youtube. At least in my blog I only paid attention to the more geometric visuals.

Jarre made a small speech in favour of exploring AI creatively and responsibly, but it remained unclear if some songs had been helped with AI. Another speechlet suggested the electronic music heritage is distinctly European, not grown out of rock and blues. As a simplification this has a kernel of truth, but I'm wondering why this needed to be said. Maybe Jarre, at 76, wanted to encourage younger people to pick up the baton or something.

Just as I thought I could feel somewhat happy about a concert, there was something with a hint of bad odor.

The setlist featured a Nina Kraviz-collaborated track Sex in the Machine (Kraviz absent obviously). As far as I know the Russian artist has been a little vague about the Ukraine war, and there are claims of displaying pro-military and pro-Putin sentiment. Jarre was happy to relay a message from Snowden, but what kind of message was relayed here?

Edit: Oops, I'll have to check which version was actually played, but apparently Sex in the Machine is originally a Jarre song.

Jarre didn't say anything either, but in one of the visuals the robots appeared to have the colours of Ukraine. A likely pro-Ukraine nod, but under analysis could be again seen as vague or even a mixed message. Ukraine as robots, really?

Tuning The Spectrum

Up until now, I used a Commodore 64 -themed memory stick as the drive for Retro Games' The Spectrum. Obviously it sticks out like a sore thumb drive.

It took a while before I bothered to look for a better alternative. Eventually I ordered an "Eletra Nano" USB memory, 32GB (USB 2.0). The memory size is acceptable, and with this I mean it's not too much! I wouldn't want an overkill of space, as the emulator files tend to be 48K or less and I don't even want all of them on the stick.

I don't mind the 2.0 protocol because the drive doesn't have to shift large files.

Smaller, virtually invisible memory sticks exist, but this is still easy to pull out with fingers. The colour, shape and styling are quite compatible with the Sinclair.

Importantly, it works. Format with FAT32 and move all the files from the other stick to this drive. Then insert it in The Spectrum and go.

Previously, I've discussed the modification of a vintage Kempston/Sound interface to give a more full 1980s experience to The Spectrum. The sound interface side is still under consideration.

If I really wanted I could have created space under the "Kempston" interface, camouflaging the memory stick entirely. But I'd rather avoid any accidental physical contact with the memory stick, even if crashes related to extension wobble might be period authentic.

Out-Zone Spider 3200E (Alocs CS-G04)

Protected from wind and from tipping over

I was looking for "one more" gas burner, powerful enough, remote canister, preferably sitting near the ground, with sufficient wind protection. Especially wind protection.

After looking at various options from the usual suspects, I spotted this Out-Zone Spider 3200E model. Other names I've come across are Prologic Blackfire Inspire and Alocs CS-G04, which might be the original. I don't know if all come from the same source, or if there are clones about.

The picture at the website was similar to the Blackfire, but what arrived looked more like the Alocs. This was not especially promising, but I didn't bother to return the product as only the legs are different, and these might offer even more protection.

The valve part looks the same as in many other models, the rest is quite alien.

At first I paid attention to build quality, the legs are slightly skewed to this and that direction. Folding the legs in and out was not very satisfying. The piezo igniter was in a slightly bent angle, which I corrected.

In natural habitat, who cares if the legs are a little wonky.

Interestingly, the included manual is the first one I've come across where it directly says a gas stove produces carbon monoxide. Remember boys and girls, do not use camping stoves in poorly ventilated or enclosed places such as a tent.

After all my initial negativity, trying the Spider a couple of times it does actually work and produces a quite powerful blue flame, nominally 3200W. (Compare to the 2800W of Primus Mimer) The parts give more protection from wind than the Mimer-type non-existent shield.

Generally the manuals of screw-on models forbid the use of wind shields. In a remote stove like this it's hardly a problem, in case I should need an added wind shield. But, again, why not use a Trangia at that point.

Could be used in this position, too

This model is not a big deal to set up. Just fold legs, screw in the gas canister, open valve, strike piezo and off we go. Although the build quality may not be very precise, with this low height I can be quite confident it doesn't tip over.

The legs can be adjusted in-between fully open and closed positions and they will stay in that position.

I am a little conflicted about the burner part. It looks like it was from something much better. It's nice because the material doesn't become colored from the flames.

The flame is not very subtle, so perhaps it's better for boiling water than for frying. To my eyes it looked blue and clean enough.

The flame looks like it's "jumping" from point to point?

Someone at Classic Campstoves is quite critical of this (or similar) models. It's true the stove doesn't have a prewarming tube. Obviously I haven't yet tried it in cold weather.

In another session, boiling about 3.5dl of water took a little longer than I would have expected, couple of minutes. The modest wind was likely not to blame. Using the small Trangia pot means some of the heat might have been lost.

Now I can't find anything negative to say about this kind of spider/low typology. Fiddling with the gas hose can be a little annoying after getting used to the simple screw-on models. The remote canister also has benefits, like adjusting the gas flow remotely.

Waiting for the food to prepare and the burner to cool

The Adventure Food carbonara wasn't all that tasty, maybe it has more nutrients than the Knorr varieties. Finding the oxygen absorber patch took a while. The water is boiled and added to the bag, stirred and after 8 minutes it is stirred again, it's ready.

This is almost cheating! If I had to wait longer for the water to boil, it might have been a little annoying. After the waiting the food is still quite hot, but it gets lukewarm rapidly. Eating the soggy remains from the bag bottom is not very appealing.

This was another time I got to explore the combination of (rental) scooter and a minimal burner setup. I didn't make a point of timing it, but after finding the spot it was likely all done in under 30 minutes.

Mustikkamaa, Helsinki

Stormberg Sarek cooking kit and other toys

Stormberg pot, Fire Maple Fms-102 burner, Biltema gas, plastic base

A potpourri of items and experiences around the Trangia theme.

Compared to the Trangia 27, the Stormberg "Sarek" kit has a larger sized pan and a pot, and a coffee-pot style pot as an addition. And a protective bag. 

These are made from anodized aluminum, and the pan has the usual teflon coating.

The first motive was that as Primus Mimer Stove distributes flames on a wider area, it would be better to have wider cookware surfaces to work with. Other than that, I guess the original Trangia kit serves 1-person needs as well as before.

Primus Mimer Stove and the Stormberg pot bottom.

The above diagram shows the Mimer stove in relation to the pot bottom. The burner and its relation to the pan bottom is quite accurate, but the less important details are not as precise.

The flames emanate from the burner in roughly 45 degree angle and outwards. I can still imagine some of the heat gets "lost" from the sides.

The pan isn't really that much wider than the Trangia 27 pan. In fact with the edges the Stormberg pan does not fit inside the 27, unless forced, which I'm not going to try. The pot is considerably wider than its Trangia counterpart.

The Stormberg kit and a Tarmo gas cartridge

The integrated handles are an attractive detail. Maybe I'm also trying to distance myself from the Trangia set, which is so complete that it deprives me from the joy of building a kit from parts.

Yet at the same time I more and more appreciate the total design of a Trangia-style storm cooker kit. All the components make a nice package where the pans and pots are well enough protected.

Can these be carried safely without them scratching each other? It would be at least good to avoid breaking the teflon and the anodized surface from too many places. Pieces of cloth or cardboard may be enough.

On the Mimer. The bullar tended to slide, burning them from one side. Photo by Marq

My small backpack is barely able to accommodate these larger pots. I will still hold to the principle that the 11L bag should limit the load, and this in turn the nature of the excursions, at least when moving about on my own.

After fiddling with the separate handle in Trangia-type kits, the integrated folding handles seem like luxury. But the handles also add a tiny amount of weight, they look a little fiddly, and when cleaning they usually need to be at least dried.

The loose handle-less pans and pots are extremely minimal items and simple to clean.

In practice, the pan and pot were easy to use and I was quite thankful of the handles. No problems with positioning and searching for the loose handle.

Teachable moment

A slightly dangerous and hilarious incident needs to be reported! I tried, without prior practice, to use the tinder on the Gerber Stakeout Spark (perhaps featured later) to light up the Mimer stove.

This meant figuring out how to use the tinder as close as possible to the burner element. This requires some extra coordination as the Gerber is quite huge. 

The gas sure lit eventually, but not without bumping the stove over. A huge yellow flame blew out and ignited my hair while I quickly set the stove up again. Then it kind of fell over once more, and again I stood it up.

Gerber Stakeout Spark

After a moment we noticed the burning didn't seem normal, so the Mimer was shut down and the gas was lit using another method.

The plastic base triangle didn't prevent this from happening, which is another lesson learned.

I'm reflecting that in a situation like this, a high priority is to shut down the gas, which should have been done the moment the cooker was stood up again, if not before.

When the base triangle is attached, it might be good to establish beforehand the directions the stack can fall, in relation to the adjustment knob.

Spirit test

As the weather gets warmer, it should be easier to work with the spirit burner. I did this on the balcony though, with about 14 degrees Celsius.

It took roughly 15+ minutes from starting the fire to snuffing it out. Setting up and cleaning of course took its time too. I boiled 0.5L water and added a 6 minute pasta carbonara bag contents as ingredients.

The Wildo combo utensil was enough here.

The flame grew quite strong in the process. The pasta threatened to overflow, which I initially countered by raising the pot. This wasn't such a good idea as the heat begins to extend to the aluminum handle, and generally the flames were wildly throwing about the pot.

So, I took the pot off and added the simmer lid, nearly all open. The effect looked too harsh initially, but it actually worked fine⁠—the pasta was really simmering. The heating was now more obviously centered so I kept the pasta moving.

At no point was the food in danger of sticking to the aluminum pot. The Knorr carbonara wasn't especially good though, their other products have tasted better.

I was interested how fast it could be without adding water to the spirit. Boiling the water that had been stored in room temperature, took around 6-7 minutes. Sure, with good gas burner it would be closer to 2 minutes, but it's hardly a deal breaker.

Uh Oh

Without the water, the pot ended up quite sooty though.

As noted before, when not trying to find the maximum speed, adding water could also tame the spirit burning. So, the simmer lid might not be needed.

Another idea is to add the simmer lid when the water is boiling and it's time to add the ingredients. This would be a more "natural" moment to do it and the flame might not yet be frighteningly high.

Spocking around with ChatGPT images

I watched the Star Trek Animated episode Yesteryear, where Mr. Spock travels in time to meet his younger self on planet Vulcan.

It's one of the few decent episodes on the animated show. This story, written by D.C. Fontana, is considered to have an authentic glimpse into the life on Vulcan, even if I'm not sure if the story of Spock's time travel is considered canon.

It's more nostalgic to me because for the longest time I have had the Alan Dean Foster novelization of the first two episodes of the series, including Yesteryear. It is likely within the ten first book-sized texts I read in English language.

Watching the episode now, I felt that if Foster's adaptation was again made into animation, it could be superior than the somewhat sparse plotting of the original.

This then suggested to me that nowadays AI could probably make that new adaptation. Then I asked, what if AI remade this story in live action?

Well, the tools to do that are not available to me, but at least I could fiddle with ChatGPT image generation, just like everyone these days. Now it's possible to upload a source image and base the prompt on that. "Natural language" image processing.

For reference, I used Google to find this image. This was hasty because it is cropped and in the wrong aspect ratio. But it doesn't matter that much.

Could you remake image so that it looks like a live action scene from the Star Trek show from 1960s, showing adult Spock with you Spock.

This messy and grammar-challenged question was followed with a question from ChatGPT:

To turn this animated scene into a live-action version in the style of the 1960s Star Trek show—featuring adult Spock with young Spock—I can generate a realistic reimagining for you. Please confirm:

Would you like me to create the live-action version using the visual style and costumes from the original Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969), with realistic human likenesses and appropriate lighting/costumes?

Despite all the mistakes, ChatGPT sounded like it had understood the task, so I answered Yes.

The first image is in some ways the best of the bunch, but the content is incorrect. Mr. Spock surely could not appear as a time traveler to his younger self, while wearing his Starfleet uniform of later years. 

This is just speculation, but I think this is in part because "appropriate costumes" probably led ChatGPT to use the iconic uniform.

Another tiny problem might be the "realistic human", making the younger Spock look far more human than in the animation.

However, I let this be because I thought it would be a nice touch if Spock as a child had a more human-looking phase. It would then make more sense the Vulcan kids would tease him. (The nasty and ugly Vulcan kids made little sense in that story in the first place.)

I can also see the child Spock is facing another direction than in the source image, but I kind of like it. I'm not going to work with Spock's hand position, I just want to get an overall feel for the result.

I follow up:

This is near perfect, but the older Spock ought not to wear the Starfleet uniform, but a plain blueish garment. The clouds and sky in the background could be somewhat more purple, to give a hint of a more alien atmosphere. They are on the planet Vulcan.

This was the interesting step to me. Would the engine remake the image exactly as before, only changing the required details?

ChatGPT understood everything very well, but the picture is now missing the shoulder bag. Note the image is more sketch-like in details.

I continue:

The shoulderbag should be preserved on the older Spock, now it is missing. The garment ought to have a hood, which however is not pulled over his head. Also the garment is full body length.

I was quite satisfied with this result, and impressed on the engine's ability to alter small details while sticking to the same image as a whole. The Vulcan garb is pretty good.

The sky is too purple for my taste, but at this point I don't care about it too much. I'm running out of goes for this session.

I can see there's some fluctuation in Spock's face, he doesn't quite look like Leonard Nimoy, and the hairline is a little weird. But whatever. The first iteration had a better face, and it might be ChatGPT is channeling resources away from the task once I begun asking revisions. 

To me it's quite nice, if bland, approximation of how the scene might have looked with the resources of the day.

More Primus, More spirit

Mimer in action 1

First, a solo effort with the Primus Mimer stove. Here I could choose a more pit-like enclosure near Alppipuisto and Linnanmäki, hoping the trees and stones would protect from the wind. This also allowed more secrecy, as the trees are still lacking leaves. This did mean the view was not all that impressive, though.

The area has a reputation of attracting weirdos, but in this weather, in the late morning hours, no-one interfered.

Watch out for those low branches

I did some bag pasta, Coop-variety Fusilli Cheese. Primus Mimer did well here, but I have to say it's tricky to keep the flame down enough while protecting it from the wind. 

Even this enclosure wasn't enough to prevent occasional gusts from reaching the stove. So, the solution is to move the food around very quickly while keeping the flame a little larger than I'd want to.

The Coop Fusilli Cheese was ok, but perhaps not as good as the Knorr bag foods.

I forgot to take my plasma igniter and the aluminum handle with me. This wasn't too problematic as the aluminum pot edge doesn't get all that hot, it can be handled with gloves. A pan would have been different matter. As for ignition, I fortunately had some matches.

Pornaistenniemi

Another session with three enthusiasts in Pornaistenniemi recreational area, the eve of May Day. We could use the covered tables, so a lot of gear was on display and in use.

Here I finally used the spirit alcohol burner again, as it could be trusted to boil 0.5 liters of water. It did feel slow after all the experiences with gas, but it got there in the end.

A tiny bit of water was added to the alcohol mix, to prevent soot. The pot wasn't all that dirty after the spirit burning, which was a relief compared to the winter experiences.

Also the ignition was much faster, even with the plasma igniter.

Trangia windshield and various utensils. Alcohol burner at the right, actual alcohol in the middle.

After winter, I had figured of some premature pros and cons between spirit and gas. I had seen gas in operation only a few times, mostly in extreme weather, and it looked like this sputtering thing that needed constant adjustment.

Spirit appeared more reliable and was easier to handle, and the spirit bottle was smaller than a gas cartridge, which needed to be connected to the burner.

Since then I've worked more with gas and although adjusting it is kind of volatile, it really is faster and I've not been able to burn my food yet. 

With spirit there's no adjusting what you can't adjust! I'm looking forward to using it during the summer more, but it might be useful to have the gas burner at hand too.

Mimer in action 2

I chose to use the Mimer again to fry some vegetable sausages, which was quite effective. Again I would have preferred to have a more nuanced flame, but no such luck.

As with the pasta, I just kept moving the sausages constantly in the oil. Also, I occasionally moved the pan a little further away from the flame, as if with working with a tiny campfire. It has to be said the mimer gives a good flame spread, so I never get a feeling it's only heating the center.

One more picture from the Linnanmäki site

A Different World

A Different World (1987–1993) landed on Netflix, and I took this opportunity to watch all the six seasons of it. (144 episodes)

It's a spin-off from The Cosby Show, a family viewing staple in 1980s, and whatever one now might think of Cosby and his supposedly cleared reputation, his mug isn't too often seen here. (When he does, be assured he gets the biggest canned laughter.) He is a series creator though, and I try to look past this to enjoy this nostalgic treat.

In my mental landscape this was more of a 1990s show, and indeed in Finland it was on TV from the beginning of 1989. I tend to associate it with my time in the 7th to 9th grades in school.

8th of January, 1989. Sunday evening after the waning star of McGyver.

The first season premise is that Denise Huxtable is now a student at the Hillman college, the alma mater of her father, mother and grandfather. The college is both a new environment, explaining why the cast of the parent show are not needed, yet enabling the trickle of guest stars as each family member visits Denise at Gilbert hall.

As the series proceeds, time genuinely passes and we have freshmen become seniors, seniors graduate and so on. The regulars do find ways to stick around, though.

I believe I used to watch this diligently, though it probably wasn't the first series I'd have admitted watching to "the guys". In a Sunday early evening slot, I'm doubtful if more than four seasons were ever shown in Finland.

So why watch it? Even if school was a drag, maybe there was some hidden yearning to this paradoxically more intense school life, with its dorms, drama, debates, cafes, art and poetry classes, extra-curricular activities and so on. I know people were inspired by the show, even if it fit poorly to the general apathy and introversion of a Finnish upper elementary school life. Maybe it did secretly provide aspirations, or at least fashion tips, for the recession generation.

Denise Huxtable

Now, much of the charm is observing the limited media sphere the students live in. The thin line to outside world is the dorm payphone, library is still paper-indexed, and in evenings the whole dorm gathers to watch a film or soap on TV.

The old TV series format can be refreshing in this age of continuities and stretched out plot lines. Binge-watching makes it very apparent how the students pick up and drop odd jobs, hobbies and dates with staggering pace, often never to be mentioned again.

As the series progresses it does become more consistent, yet doesn't take itself or the continuity too seriously. The tradition of "very special episodes" often means actors interpret their role in a different way, whereas some episodes explore farce and slapstick.

Time can also be enemy of things, and roles and fashions can become reversed. Here we are at the end of 1980s, when the Rocky Theme or Olivia Newton-John's Physical are considered bad music, and 1970s generally is a shorthand for "poor taste". Anti-apartheid sentiment is present, now reminding of how ubiquitous the topic once was – up until the system was dismantled.

I guess Denise is meant to be relatable and gen-X cool, but she often appears sleepy and disinterested. Whitley Gilbert's beauty and fitness routines are meant to be over the top, but she would actually fit our times rather well. Whitley's caricature and character growth steal the show in any case.

Dwayne Wayne

The first season starts a little rough at the edges, as the characters aren't yet established. Dwayne Wayne (how cool are those glasses) seems a little lost without his sidekick Ron Johnson. Whitley appears a little too nasty when abusing the "spineless" Millie. 

Some of the entourage is introduced mid-season, but the second season brings drastic changes to the cast. One could almost say the show is rebooted. I recalled this happened much later in the series, but that's again what binge watching does.

I felt the first season attempted an all-female cast, with nearly feminist tones, but as the series proceeds it becomes a more straightforward sitcom with more male regulars, such as the "Dr. War" Colonel Taylor, cafeteria chef Vernon and the boys' dorm director Walter.

Despite the important "No means no" episode, the show repeats age-old TV mating rituals where men are presented as being very forward, even to the point of being a little physical about it. Ron's occasionally creepy behavior is underlined as being wrong, but it's for laughs and he keeps doing it anyway.

Whitley, Kim, Dwayne, Freddie share a serious moment

The third and fourth seasons don't bring as huge changes, although the setup is shuffled a little and there's more thought to plot arcs and acknowledging past events. Having characters live off-campus at least changes the scenery.

Dream episodes and more improbable plots begin to rear their head too. Maybe that third season spring break double-episode should have been a dream. The cast becomes more caricature-like in the later seasons: Whitley is inconsiderate and loud, Freddie is a kooky environmentalist hippie, Ron is a perv.

The first seasons explores the confines and rules of the dorm apartments. Towards the end of the series we barely see how the students live, as everything happens in more social environments. Apart from the repeated establishing shots, almost everything's filmed in the safety of the studio. One major exception is the LA-riot themed two-parter.

It's amusing to observe the transition from a 1980s show into a self-consciously "1990s" show, an opportunity to again revisit gender roles but also (sadly) making jokes about how silly it is to protect the environment. There is also self-reflection on how the series' once youthful heroes are no longer cool to the new generation.

The sixth season works more as an epilogue, showing how the series regulars begin to settle, bringing the Cosby format full circle. The college environment increasingly relies on new characters. However, the cast no longer inspires curiosity about their future, and the themes begin to feel too repetitive.

The whole series ends with a suitably sentimental note. It doesn't look like a series continuation was planned after the sixth season. There have been rumors about rebooting the series for a new millennium.

A whole bunch of crowd

Netflix has again chosen to transform a 4:3 series into widescreen format, also using a silly algorithm to upscale the image. The algo is especially visible in pause mode. I watched few episodes happily without realizing the format change and the filter, but when I begun to pay attention these changes can be a little irritating at times. Sometimes even items that are focus of comedy are poorly cropped away.

A small oldmachinery observation. I don't think I saw a single computer in season 1, although I believe I saw a perforated dot matrix print paper already very early on. Computers feature in season 2 more, and eventually become a sort of plot point too. The same IBM serves as a prop in many locations. Nintendo was enough of a household name to make jokes about in 1988. Something resembling a Game Boy was seen in Season 4, and definitely spotted and name-checked in Season 6.

Urban campsite

This time, a more urban campsite

There have been some more urban camping sessions, but I've not thought to report them all. This time there are some new experiences and equipment to talk about.

The Primus Mimer stove has been a hit and a miss, as a little wind could disrupt a water boiling process. From my experience I'd not recommended it for winter, even if it did perform ok that one time.

Now, in warmer weather it did much better, at least with a frying pan. It looks like it is more useful for frying pans, as the flame spreads to a broader area.

A Crivit from Lidl boiling potatoes, Primus Mimer working on the non-meat balls.

Still, the flame had to be quite high to counter the wind, which easily made it a little too strong for controlled cooking. The cooking oil started boiling almost instantly. The köttless-bullar were in a danger of blackening from the outside while cold from the inside, something I've not seen much after my student days. Finding the proper level while moving the balls around aggressively did help, though.

Some new equipment. A triangle-shaped stand for gas cartridges is a welcome addition. These gas canister-based burner contraptions make me fear of tipping everything over, but using this as a base it's far less likely. It fits quite neatly with the standard cartridge, and with a little fiddling it fit a somewhat non-standard one too.

Triangular plastic base

But I have to say adding these bits and pieces makes me think that with Trangia you have a full system where these things have been thought over and over!

The Wildo camp-a-box is another new family member. The set has a 6dl fold-a-cup type can, a normal fold-a-cup, a tripartite spice container and a fork-spoon-knife combo. The halves of the box work as plates and there's a sort of cutting board thrown in.

Wildo Camp-A-Box contents

The setup is smart in that the parts fit together in only one way, and the shapes are suggestive of how this should be done. So no Tetris at the campsite. Weighing at 280g, carrying it all might not make sense. The combined utensil might not excel as a spoon, fork or a knife, but it brought the food to the mouth.

Veto-Junior drafting machine

Picture on the cardboard case

Rarely I get an opportunity to write about something that's both Old and a Machine.

This Veto-Junior is a light-weight arm drafting machine from around 1949-1956, made and sold in Finland. It was built by Valmet, the Finnish institution that did everything: paper machines, rifles, tractors, trains...

Overview. The screw at the bottom holds the device in place for photography!

Predictably the machine was sold by Wulff exclusively. Later they sold imported drafting machines for architects, engineers and designers.

This kind of drafting machine uses a sort of parallelogram principle to level the drafting ruler unit. The ruler unit is kept "weightless" with either strings or a counterweight, the latter probably more expensive.

On the down side, the arm drafting machines are often less accurate away from the center of the board and the springs can generate some noise.

The ad from Helsingin Sanomat 13.9.1949

I'm timing the device based on a few advertisements in Helsingin Sanomat. The first ad is from 1949 and the second from 1956.

The 1956 ad shows a complementing drafting board. The price of 3400 marks (now ~123€) doesn't seem too prohibitive, but it wasn't exactly an age of plenty. The imported Nestler board from Germany sold for 9350 (339,41€), together they would be a bigger purchase.

This was still the war reparations era, the factories now produced a variety of products for civilian use. The Veto is mentioned in Maanpuolustus 4/2016 as a product category. 

It fits thematically, a low-cost device to educate a new generation of engineers, architects and designers for rebuilding Finland. I'm unsure if these ever went to Soviet Union.

The ad from Helsingin Sanomat 4.9.1956

For some time I wondered if "Junior" implied there would be a non-Junior Veto, given that some texts simply mention "Veto".

Because my Veto-Junior has a VKT (Governmental Rifle Factory) logo, and the ad mentions the Tourula Factory, I acquired the book Kivääritehtaan Tarina ("Story of the Rifle Factory") by Mänttäri, Hyytinen and Niskanen from 2003, on the hope it could say something about the product. 

The book focuses on tractors and weapons, but there is also simple list of the various civilian products made by the factory. Purely by chance there is a low resolution scan of an old Valmet product catalogue. The scan happens to feature both a Veto and Veto-Junior drafting machines. I rotated and adjusted the scan to give the best possible reproduction.

Valmet product catalogue, year unknown. (adjusted from the book Kivääritehtaan Tarina, 2003)

It's possible to see the Veto is larger, has a counterweight for balancing, and the text says the ruler is of beech with "celluloid" edges, as opposed to the metal rulers of Veto-Junior.

The rifle factory book is rather nice, but it has absolutely no index or list of references, so it's a little tricky to start tracing that old product catalog, and perhaps I don't need to as that's all the info there is.

Some repairs were needed to get this working. In fact I bought two machines before I could assemble one working item. I realize these can be considered antiques and this might be a sacrilege. However I ended up only using the springs from the second purchase.

Veto-Junior 1: VKT, No logo on the handle.

The first Veto was loose, dirty but in nice condition. It lacked one spring and the rulers were in a rough condition.

This first Veto came with a wooden board of sorts, not the Nestler obviously, but resembling a Wulff-branded board I already own, which is in better condition mind you. This board had no branding.

The machine was unceremoniously attached to the board with 5 screws. I had to marvel at the quality of these old screws, they are so crisp and heavy.

Veto-Junior 2: The Wulff/Valmet logo

The second one had both springs intact, nice rulers but the metal parts had rusted here and there. The arms still move about well, the ball bearings are not stuck or noisy.

This came with the original cardboard box and the device sports a logo saying Wulff Veto-Junior Valmet. The other doesn't even really have room for a logo.

If there were instructions, they have become lost. The one ad mentions a leaflet which I suppose could have explained how to set up the machine.

This second Veto also had a lacquer finish on the wooden part, but it has mostly worn off.

Interestingly, the first device rulers have a VKT logo which is for Valtion KivääriTehdas. You can see the elongated hexagon logo in some Finnish guns.

Veto-Junior 1: VKT logo

The second one has a sparse "VMT" marking for Valtion MetalliTehtaat. The Valmet branding was very much in place at this point.

My initial hunch was the VKT one (without the Valmet logos) is the older one - although it is in better condition. In my understanding the VKT term was abandoned after the war.

The rulers are of some kind of aluminum mixture, they at least don't rust. They have lasted the long years in reasonable shape but were maybe not that great to begin with.

These rulers have been pressed into shape to make them more firm, but they still bend rather easily. This also means they can be bent back into shape.

Veto-Junior 2: VMT marking

The machine arms are flat metal, with a bulge running through the middle to give them strength. As far as I understand this is sheet metal forming/pressing, a technique used for some firearms. It's quite clever, despite being quite flat the parts don't give in or bend too easily.

The two springs are of different length, and using both from the second machine I could get the arms to "float", although it biases to the right.

I just didn't dare to stretch the spring to a further range. (There are three attachment points at each location). The springs had been probably unused for a long time, but they are in good condition.

Ball bearing, freely visible

Then I found the ball bearings mentioned in the ad. The bearings are freely visible, and are held in place by some sort of ball bearing screw but not exactly. I also noticed one of the arm hinges from Veto-Junior #1 lacks ball bearings, so they might come loose under strain.

I could add them from the second machine, but I decided if I am going to draw more then I'll use my Tecnostyl 604, which is better suited for it anyway. (I'll perhaps blog about that later).

Functionally, Veto has the almost compulsory angle setting, with 15-degree steps. A tightening bolt helps keep the in-between angles more firmly in place. The rulers can be switched around to work in 1:25 proportion and also for fine-tuning the 90-degree angle.

And that's about it. No thumb-press position lock, no "line offset" features.

Some experiences

The lightness is both a good and a bad thing. My point of comparison is the Tecnostyl 604 which has robustness, weight and portability in better proportion.

The contraption at the top has been made to allow the ruler to pass a little higher than it otherwise would. A nice thought. Still, I think the bearings suffer here more than at other places. 

A little test drawing

It's very portable. Surely the Veto-Junior can be easily transported without a table, and even with the small board, carrying wasn't a problem. But the device is already so flimsy it's difficult to take very seriously.

After a little experimentation, I can draw with this but it wasn't quite as "fun" as with the Tecnostyl. The angles deviate quite heavily as I near the edges of the board, the rulers don't fix very firmly, but as the draft image will be consistently warped it shouldn't matter too much(!)

Of course it's unclear if the Veto Junior works as intended, it is likely more than 70 years old.