2025

Uhh, 2025, the same as before? Just as short recap at the very end.

Trangia camp stove became a new hobby. This started with the alcohol stove gift of last Christmas. I hoped the spirit burning would become a thing, however, as many before me I had to accept gas is simply cleaner and faster.

I didn't give up entirely on the alcohol stove, but the practice would need more time than I really have. Gear acquisition threatened to escalate, but I used them less than expected during the summer, I also refrained from buying too much.

And what's that again?

On retro front, The Spectrum entertained me at the beginning of the year, but as usual, that's about it. There is a bunch of new gear, which I've not yet discussed much. Partly games devices, but also a Raspberry 5 which needs to be put through its paces.

The new "official" Commodore 64 sounds attractive but as the C64C model was not available, I chose not to buy it as of now. Sure, the board can be bought separately and I actually have an extra case I think. But it would be nice to have to whole shebang without having to hunt new parts, or combine new boards with old plastics.

Time will tell what the "new" Commodores will bring. Now it looks like many new users are having the feels of keeping up with the Commodore, but as happened with the Spectrum Next I suspect a healthy percentage of these new users may end up being quite passive.

Raspberry Pi 5

I was able to find time to play some bigger games. For instance, I replayed Control and it was worth it. Then I continued with Everspace 2 and Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. The last game I completed was Invincible. I did start with Last of Us, but looks like it'll have to wait. Nowadays Linux has far too many games to choose from!

The last weeks of the year saw me coding a new game for Commodore 64. Even reliving the geeky teenager experience of using most of the new year's eve for it.

Not to jinx it, I won't show anything. Ok there's the memory usage.

I'm usually not one to promote anything before it's fully complete, but at least it's safe to say this one will become finished. The game is basically there, it has the winning and losing conditions and it can be played through. The rest is more about adding visuals, sound and music. We'll see when it comes out.

Not much at TV and film front, apart from the weird project of watching A Different World in its entirety. Well, ok Star Wars: Andor season 2 delivered. As it leads to Rogue One, I can't shake the feeling it's still a story that really didn't need to be told. Anyone who felt the scene in the original Star Wars with the imperials bickering around a table needed expanded to a full series, must have been satisfied. It was entertaining.

One of the number of tools I could talk about.

The end of Stranger Things is upon us. The fifth season had to carry the burden of having to reignite the interest of those viewers who will not rewatch the previous seasons=most people probably. The three-year gap did not do good here. It looks like the stakes have been reinvented and basically the same story is told again: Kids are in danger. The 1980s leanings have been practically forgotten, unless we're talking 1980s style action.

I did get to see both Jarre and Kraftwerk at the same year.