Welcoming Christmas with the "Alita: Battle Angel" Movie Trailer and a Sweet Art Supply Set

It’s officially three weeks till Christmas! By now Santa Claus has gathered most if not all of the toys he’s giving out the night of the 25th but for you Santa helpers don't wait to long to make your Christmas gift purchases.

With three weeks left my house is looking like a Christmas wonderland, as it does on every year of this time. Yes we’ve done our Christmas decorating and while the decorations we use are the same nostalgic pieces we always arrange them in a way that sets that year apart from the rest.

From the classic ceramics settled along the fireplace to the garland around each corridor the halls are definitely decked, although not with boughs of holly of sorts. We do however have a new addition, this sweet White Christmas table top tree. 

Don’t get me wrong I love big trees but there’s just something about a table top Christmas tree that feels more humble. The white needles while not natural just seem more suitable for this winter season which might I say we’ve surprisingly been seeing breeze through.

Here I am under the impression it's going to be a warm winter when if at the snap of a finger the cold has hit us down here like a truck. It’s not below freezing but we are teetering on the edge of it and I have to admit I'm a lot more used to the hot, humid and sweaty weather then I am the bitter and nippy cold.

Anyway I had possibly the strangest yet the most awesome encounter the other day. It's not every day I get to meet someone I follow online but one of my favorite Youtubers and Vloggers as well as being an avid RV traveler happened to cross paths with me in a Home Depot no less. Eric Jacobs, known as Nomadic Fanatic on Youtube was this man and yeah it was probably the most unexpected thing to ever happen to me in this past year of blogging. Sadly we didn't get much time to talk and I didn't get to meet Jax the Cat but I did happen to get his business card as proof that I actually met him.

For those not aware Eric basically travels America as a full time RVer with his slightly oversized yet lovable cat Jax. The sights they’ve seen are absolutely incredible and make myself eager to get out and travel myself. (This isn’t easy to do, trust me.) He posts videos of his adventures on his YouTube channel: . His recent videos are of Alabama so for those who haven't had to chance to check out the state of Bama then go check out his recent videos!

So back to the topics at hand I got a brand new movie trailer to discuss and this one is of a movie I didn't expect but it looks really awesome, while looking like food for my SciFi movie hunger.

Spawning from an awesome 1990s Japanese manga by the name of Gunnm, written by Yukito Kishiro comes the newest James Cameron movie by the name of Alita: Battle Angel and oh boy this is another one of those movies that have been in production for over two decades now. Yeah James Cameron has had this movie in the works for a long time now, being a huge fan of the manga this can be easily described as a passion project for him. Well finally we’ve got a trailer for this movie that you can check out right here.

That was simply put awesome, the cyberpunk/post apocalyptic setting, the main character, Mahershala Ali and the incredible animation makes this definitely on my must watch list for 2018. I am not too familiar with the manga, although I'm eager to read them now, but this movie will be based on the first four books of the original manga.

Alita is a cyborg discovered in a garbage heap by Cybernetic Doctor Daisuke Ido and to his surprise Alita has absolutely no memory. She does however have a knack for combat which sets her down the path of being a Hunter-Warrior, taken down other cyborgs of a more criminal nature in the futuristic city of Scrapyard (Fitting name, apparently)

I am actually super excited for this movie but even more excited to check out the source material as well. I know all of you are probably groaning as it's another manga/anime based movie but give it a chance, James Cameron is absolutely passionate about the source material so unlike Dragonball Evolution this movie might be great. I also have heard people complain about the eyes of the main character but that didn't seem to bug me when watching the trailer. Who says Cyborg girls had to have normal eyes? Well anyway I can't wait to check this movie out next year when it releases July 20th, 2018.

Next up we got the first trailer for the new season of Jessica Jones! Jessica Jones became my favorite character besides Luke Cage when watching Marvel’s Defenders a few months ago so I'm eager to see where they take the sarcastic yet kick butt hero (Who probably Knits as well knowing her awesome actress) in this new season. You can check out this trailer below!

Jessica Jones is BACK! With her agency up and running again she's tying up loose ends as well as getting into new trouble as well as dealing with her past that still seems to linger around. While this was a short trailer this is really all you need to get hyped for the new season (Don’t worry they’ll flood us with unnecessary trailers regardless) so get ready to see some kick ass Jessica Jones March 8th on Netflix.

Speaking of Netflix as a quick reminder the new season of The Crown is now on Netflix! This new series continues the reigning chapters of Queen Elizabeth II’s life with the same stars that made the first season so memorable so for those with Netflix be sure to check it out!

Well that's about it for this blog, or it should be but I had a spur of the moment thing happen that involves me purchasing something. Yeah I spent money on myself again but this deal was absolutely irresistible. I’ve really come to love art in all of it’s many medias, I’ve not done a whole lot and most of it involved Aeris Eclipse in some shape or form but I can say that creating art will be something i’ll keep in my life. So with that commitment in mind I bought myself this 120 piece multi media art set.

Oh boy this is one beauty of a box. At first glance you would assume this to be some secret agency briefcase and I guess you could call it that because of how much is inside of this box. This Artist Loft Art Set actually only cost me 20 dollars despite it’s usual 70 dollar price tag so I really did snag one really good deal from Michael’s and it almost completely slipped my point of view. My Mum had actually discovered the one day sale that was happening so of course I Dove out as quick as I could and snagged the last one on the shelf.

Opening this baby up you can see a wide selection of color pencils and watercolor pencils, the latter I've come to love after the past few months. Think this is it? Oh no, not by a long shot. See those fabric tabs? Yeah pulling this up will reveal the magic underneath.

This isn't just a Acrylic or watercolor set no this has 10 Acrylic Paints, 12 Watercolor paints and 12 oil paints as well as oil pastels. Also included are brushes, pallets and some other cool bits that really makes this an awesome set. What finishes this off with a bang is the booklet that comes with the set. This booklet is absolutely perfect for a beginner like myself as it holds tips on how to draw, color theory and how to use the four mediums included in this set. So for someone like me, who’s barely gotten used to Watercolor this was the icing on the cake. It actually goes quite in depth on oil painting, a medium I've always been too nervous to try yet have always had a love for oil paintings.

While this set is not going to be 20$ anymore I would still recommend this set to any artist who wants to expand their mediums and learn new ones. This would make quite the Christmas gift so check out your local Michael’s (If you have one) or anyone else who sells Artist Loft supplies.

For now I'm heading off once again, thanks everyone for reading the blog for this week! Don't stress out over Christmas too much and enjoy the rest of your week!

This was ZAK Entertainment

See you next week!

A Rocky River Sibling Adventure, Incredibles 2, Ferdinand and Free Embroidery Patterns!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This week is the week of Thanksgiving here in America, the day for giving thanks to those you’re grateful for having in your life and also for stuffing your face with stuffing. It’s also the day of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Purina Dog Show which are always fun watches. Of course after that day is over it's going to be the largest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. So yeah be safe over the next few weeks and while you should have fun don't overdo it!

However for today I have a few movie trailers to discuss but before that my sister and I went on a little adventure last week. We went on a trip to Bossier Art’s Council in Bossier City finally to see my sister’s amazing canvas painting in the Humans Being Humans Gallery that is currently running at the council. Yes my sister actually got an art piece into a gallery and rightfully so she’s done an amazing job on this piece. Funny enough this was her first time entering a gallery and she was up against many artists in the area. We recorded a vlog of the trip but I was not able to get it finished for this specific blog so you’ll see that video soon.

Photo Credit LadyAnnaVintage

For now you can check out my sister’s painting on her newest blog: http://ladyannavintage.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-artwork-gallery-show.html. As well as in the virtual gallery by going to the Humans Beings and Being Humans virtual gallery link: http://bossierarts.org/wordpress1/gallery-exhibitions-2/east-bank-gallery/hbbh-2/. This is one of my sister’s best art pieces AND it’s up for sale so if you’re in the area (Actually it might be possible to purchase it and have it shipped to you, not setting that as fact though) come check this awesome painting out as well as the other artist’s paintings at 630 Barksdale Blvd Bossier City, LA 71111 as well as their phone number 318 741 8310. There is a problem with this however; it appears the Gallery will actually be closed for the next week so you’ll only have the 27^th through to the 30th to visit the gallery before all these paintings are taken down. I guess I should of gotten this out there sooner but with Annie holding back on advertising and lack of advertising from the Council itself my hands were tied, I had only just gotten the chance to visit the gallery myself.

I’ll be writing/editing a separate blog /vlog of our trip to BAC for later on in the week so be sure to check it out! It’ll be a Thanksgiving gift in a way.

Taking a Rocky Red River Adventure with Sibling in Tow.

That however was not the end to our trip out! On our way home and after a couple of U-turns Annie and I discovered a small park outside the Red River. Yeah amazing what we find randomly on our ways back home. We actually drove past right past the almost invisible entrance and had to make a U-turn just to get into this place dubbed the “Teague Trails Recreational Area”.

Luckily I had my camera with me and decided to take some photos of this park. Annie will have some incredible photos coming up on her blog later on this week from this trip but I like these photos I took so let’s roll a few of them out for you.

As you can see this part of the river is molded with rocks instead of beaches which while not fun for your feet makes this place look absolutely stunning, I’m surprised I’ve only just found this place.

Took this photo which at this angle makes it look like these rocks are giant boulders in perhaps the Grand Canyon area, it almost looks like you could walk through these rocks. Makes you feel kind of small in this big world of ours.

I have to admit that we really did not have the right shoes on for this occasion. With Annie in high heels and me in dress shoes we really weren’t in the right attire. We need to remember to take a pair of tennis shoes with us.

Here’s the photographer herself, why not take a photo of a photographer taking a photo, eh?

This place actually makes for a great picnic location especially on a day like this where no one else is here, you wouldn’t have anyone else bothering you and your family. I really want to see if I can get on the other side of the river, which would be pretty cool.

Overall we really need to come back here, of course with better shoes and perhaps a picnic basket in hand. There are tons of other places to visit in this area so you never know what we’ll come across in the upcoming weeks, especially with Christmas on its way. Do I smell a Christmas Extravaganza 2017 happening soon? Perhaps so, you’ll have to wait and see. (It’s actually happening I’m just teasing you.) Don't forget to check out Annie on her Art/Photography blog ladyannavintage.blogspot.com

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have finally and you’re probably playing that instead of reading this but if you want to put the DS down for a few seconds I have a brand new teaser trailer for a movie I think people have been clawing for years now, The Incredibles 2!

The Incredibles 2 Returns in this Crazy New Teaser!

Yeah this movie has been teased for a long time now and I discussed some stuff about it during the year such as during Disney’s D23 conference. The Incredibles was Pixar’s first real film where the main characters actually consisted of humans instead of toys, monsters, fish and bugs. Of course these humans were super powered living in a world of villains and non powered humans. The story of the first movie focused on Mr. Incredible and his Wife Elastigirl as they struggle to survive in a world where super humans are suddenly discredited as menaces leaving the superheroes with no choice but to go into hiding, living as normal humans. Mr. Incredible and his family try to live normal lives while hiding their crazy abilities but it doesn’t last all too long and soon enough their dragged into a plot that’ll reshape how the world sees “Supers”.

This Pixar animation is by far one of my favorite animations and it’s awesome to see a sequel especially when it’s going to take place immediately after the first movie left off, meaning we’re going to get to see the Incredibles fight the Undertaker (Who was and I’m assuming will still be voiced by John Ratzenberger) after all. Another character that will play a large role is seemingly Jack-Jack Parr, the Family’s youngest member who seemed to be a normal baby until the end of the first movie where he was revealed to have shape shifting abilities. This new teaser shows Jack-Jack receiving an even more variety of powers so let’s take a look see.

Yeah it wasn’t a huge teaser but we got to see the powers that Jack-Jack seemingly posseses, which is a LOT so it’ll be awesome to see how he develops in the next film. As announced earlier on the movie will actually shift focus a few times within the film as Elastigirl will be out fighting crime while her husband will be home babysitting Jack, which as we can see from the teaser will ensure some hilarity, and perhaps a house insurance claim.

This movie will be releasing June 15^th of next year so I bet we’ll see a full trailer closer to the release date, maybe during the Superbowl? If I just predicted that I’ll die of laughter I swear.

AND HIS NAME IS... FERDINAND!

I actually have one more movie trailer to discuss today. It’s another animation and it stars an international wrestling superstar

AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA

Okay old dead memes aside (I can’t believe I actually used that word on this blog, never again) John Cena is voicing Ferdinand in a movie named after said character. This bull, unlike most bulls is actually a over sensitive love-a-BULL creature who’s size tends to make others timid of him to his own disliking. Without further ado let’s check out this new trailer from Blue Sky who are actually the creators of Ice Age, Robots and RIO. (Does anyone remember Robots? Loved that movie.)

Ferdinand is actually based on a 1936 children’s book believe it or not named “The Story of Ferdinand”, written by Munro Leaf and Illustrated by Robert Lawson. The story tells the tale of a bull named Ferdinand who is more interested in flowers then bullfights. As that book wasn’t super long by any means the movie is of course fleshing the characters out a little more. It actually looks like a really good family animation, something I’ve come to expect from Blue Sky over the years, I mean I can’t name a Blue Sky animation I don’t like. This movie is a classic tale of don’t judge a book by its cover. Ferdinand in this movie is a Spanish Fighting Bull who absolutely detests bullfighting, rather spending his time smelling flowers and hanging out with small cuddly animals. Sadly his size seems to get the better of him making him a tad bit of a klutz. You’ll be able to watch this movie in theatres this December the 15^th so mark your calendars. 

So that’s pretty much it for movie news, nothing major is happening but a much anticipated movie of mine is just about to come out as well this thanksgiving. The Man Who Invented Christmas which I discussed a few blogs ago is a satire bio pic of sorts telling the story of Charles Dickens and his creative process for coming up with A Christmas Carol, as a writer and avid Charles Dickens fan this is really one of my highly anticipated movies of the year. Sadly it’s only just coming out in theatres so we’ll have to wait until next Christmas to watch this movie via DVD, well I mean we can always watch it in February when it’ll probably come out on DVD, I know I probably will just because of my love for Charles Dickens work.

DMC Releases some Beautiful Free Embroidery and Cross Stitch Patterns!

Before I leave you guys for the day I have a big announcement for you embroidery lovers out there! My Mum, who’s an avid needle artist herself, has discovered that DMC, a popular thread company is releasing a huge selection of their patterns to the public for FREE! Yes all patterns that used to cost $3-$5 dollars are now free to download! Some of these patterns are embroidery and some are cross stitch but if you’re looking for just embroidery you can filter the search results by looking on the left side of the website.

All you’ll need is your email address and the ability to download PDFs and you’ll be good to go, you can always unsubscribe from these emails later but if you’re into needle works you might be interested in keeping those emails coming in for any good deals and news regarding embroidery and cross stitch. Of course you can still purchase the kits for these patterns, which come with the exact thread colors DMC recommends for the pattern as well as optional accessories for prices that range around $3.

You can check out this entire collection right by clicking this link right here: https://www.dmc.com/us/patterns-5041/?limit=96.

With those patterns in hand I’ll be leaving you guys now for the week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving everyone and try not to get hurt during the crazy Black Friday rush especially with sweet online deals happening these next couple of weeks, check back next week I may have some crazy Cyber Monday deals to enlighten you guys with.

This was ZAK Entertainment

Thanks for reading!

Southern Cypress of Cross Lake & Aeris Takes a Watercolor Selfie

Traveling and journeying through the great outdoors, there’s nothing better than that feeling. While yes movies are great enjoyment and playing video games can be exciting nothing beats the outdoors. My family and I travel quite often and with ZAK Entertainment I wish to bring that feeling to you guys through short films, which brings us to today. My family and I recently took a trip to a local lake by the name of Cross Lake, we’ve come here quite often and this blog was the center topic of my “They’re not Ducks They’re Coots” video and my Dardanelle & Russellville train article on which both were featured in this blog right here: http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/02/american-coots-train-out-of-time.html. Today I’m bringing you guys a video I’ve been eagerly editing and compositing of some great shots from Cross Lake and my recent trip there a week ago. You might think this is a repeat blog but actually last time it was during winter time so now in the thick of summer a lot of the greenery has surfaced making this lake look quite different and much more vibrant. So without further ado here is “Southern Cypress of Cross Lake”.

I actually did say before I was eager to get some summer shots in comparison with what I got in winter so this short film was great. As well as this video I actually took some photographs in between filming and an actual Watercolor piece related to this lake. Yeah I found some great shots that worked great as one of the backgrounds of a watercolor piece I’ve been secretly working on for a week now. I was hoping to get it finished before World Watercolor Month ended but my piece “Vintage Scarlett Rose” was good enough as a finale I think. Anyway as a little prologue to this watercolor piece I wanted to do a watercolor piece using my Schmincke sample paints that I received and demoed for you guys last week and so I figured as character art is my usual kind of art I do I figured to do a character piece using these paints. Now if you’ve noticed most of my watercolor character art pieces and art in general is of a certain young lady named Aeris Eclipse from Dream Eclipse a novel series I’m currently writing. You’re probably sick and tired of me drawing her, right? Yeah I said I was taking a break from drawing her but whoops my hand slipped, here’s “Aeris On The Lakefront“!

http://zak-art.deviantart.com/art/Aeris-on-the-Lakefront-696671325

In Dream Eclipse Aeris doesn’t actually live near an ocean and instead lives near a river that connects to a lake. This lake I decided to base similarly off Cross Lake because of the photos I took, I like using my own references. I know I illustrate Aeris pretty much 90% of the time but she seemed like the perfect fit for this illustration which oddly resembles a selfie, which wasn’t intentional but let’s roll with it. Her arm placement really does look like she’s the one taking this photo… Watercolor selfies anyone? Anyway I’ve made a few changes to her character, that are actually just reversions to previous ideas such as Aeris being 16 and attending High School. I know I already changed her to 18 once but I just couldn’t work in the story ideas I wanted her to with her being in college. There’s a character that really is not certain about what she wants to do with the future and if you’re in college, well you pretty much know what you’re working towards. Plus this is supposed to be aimed at Young Adults and on up so it makes more sense. I can just do more character development in general this way and I’m not quite sure why I ever changed it to 18 in the first place. So with that said yeah I actually prefer it 16, makes this story work a lot smoother. Not sure why those changes were ever made in the first place and you guys are probably not even aware of that. Other than that, nothing’s changed much.

This was my first time using artist grade paints on a watercolor piece so it was a bit of a different experience. I never quite realized HOW different it would be getting used to an artist grade paint vs student grade but the results are good. Oh yeah if you noticed my actual uncolored drawing was not inked in this time, I just left the pencil drawing. It pencil seems to blend in with the watercolor a lot better not leaving such a harsh black edging. I love the ink and wash method but I don’t think I do enough crosshatching for it to work properly and I just love the wash over pencil look anyway so I might use this method more often. I’m still learning and I’m not sure if I’m even up to a good level yet but I’ll be continuing my watercolorist journey into the near future. This was done using the Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Watercolor samples I was given  by Schmincke to review and demo them which you can read about and watch here: http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/07/schmincke-hordam-aquarell-samples.html

Here’s the photograph I used for reference on the background, it’s not super copy and paste from the reference but that wasn’t the idea. I took this photo from the same trip that this video was birthed from. This photograph was taken using my Nikon Coolpix S3300 which never ceases to amaze me. This really is a beautiful lake and this specific part of the lake might by my favorite view.

This is a pretty good shot of the giant dead tree from the video, back in Winter I wasn’t sure if it was dead or not but that’s not really questionable now. This tree adds a eerie but kind of awesome look to the area for some reason.

Here’s another photo from the same view but zoomed into the houses built up on the edge of the water and below a photo of the Marina on the other side.

This lake is quite large so you can see even more land in the far distance. It was pretty nice day and actually felt much cooler than the majority that this summer has been so far so I was shocked to not see any boaters out on the waters.

This is the part of the lake that’s covered with Cypress Trees. Always love Cypress Trees and how they thrive by living fully in the water, this part of the lake Is a branch off of sorts I’m not sure if it would have been this far out a few years ago, it’s definitely raised a lot over the years.

This shot here might be my favorite from the trip; it showcases the picnic bench area in the back while featuring some of the lake’s beauty.

Finally here’s a photo of a secret boat house sitting out on the lake, I was shocked to see this boat house here I had never spotted it before. Even cooler are the little friends my camera picked up, do you see them? Yeah apparently there are some turtle guys just hanging out here, four to be exact. Wish I had spotted them while I was filming I could of got these guys on my short film.

Anyway I really enjoy traveling out to this lake and this probably won’t be the last time, though perhaps I can get some recording done via the other side of the lake, there’s probably not many shots I can take of this lake that I haven’t already got in both of my Cross Lake videos. My sister who runs a blog by the name of Lady AnnaVintage is currently working on her blog featuring photos she took on this trip, knowing her the photos will be incredible so be sure to keep checking up on her blog for when it’s released! http://ladyannavintage.blogspot.com

Be sure to check out my previous cross lake video and the one from today! Okay if you’re reading this when I’m posting it it’s actually tonight. If you’re wondering why this blog is posting at such a early time I can answer that simply. Google’s scheduling system isn’t perfect and I’ve had constant issues getting the blogs to actually release on time so I’ve decided to remove the schedule and go manual with the posting. I don’t think this will cause any issues for you the reader; actually you’ll get to read it earlier. I am not changing my Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule so no fret there but as far as time posted? It’s going to be manual for now on. Keep an eye out between 12:00 AM Central American time and 1:00 AM Central American time for the blog to be posted!

To wrap up the blog for today it’s time for the free knitting pattern feature! Today’s pattern is another toy you can make in time for Christmas. This pattern is called “Crawley Knitted Caterpillar” by Ann Franklin.

[Photo Credits Ann Franklin]

Look at this adorable fella, he’ll make a great present for your kids and can be quite educational at the same time for teaching your kids colors. (It’ll turn them into painters one day, trust me, even if it took me over 20 years to start, haha.) As always I’ll list the material you need which is of the following:

DK Yarn either with scrap yarn or just any multiple colors of your choice (Full measurements are in the pattern!), this pattern recommends Acrylic Yarn.

US Size 3 / 3.25 mm knitting needles

And 200g of toy stuffing

The finished product will be about 50-53 cms long

The actual pattern is easy enough, just a lot of multiple pieces and increases so be sure to have a sewing needle in hand! I’m actually looking around for presents to knit my little brother this year so I might be picking this as his present this year… I actually have to knit more. Someone teach me how to balance the blog, art, knitting and writing my book into one day. You can check out this pattern at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crawley-caterpillar

Be sure to check out more of Ann Franklin's patterns she has some wonderful ones such as Shula the Sheep.

Anyway I’ll leave you guys for today.

This was ZAK Entertainment

See you on Monday!

Photos with the ZAK Entertainment watermark are ©2017 Zachary Kuhn.

Do not use without permission.

Summer Sunflower Fields and A Classy 1938 Illustration WIP

Summer time, while a time for hot sweaty weather summer can still be enjoyed through the wonders of the beach, ice cream pops, traveling and a certain flower called the Sunflower. A week or two ago my Family and I went on a trip to a local Sunflower Field as this time of the year is when they bloom. Of course my Photographer sister and I being a pretty good Videographer cracked out our cameras. I actually was supposed to get this video up ages ago but I’ve been busy and also my computer isn’t as young as it used to be so it’s not super easy to edit a video, okay a little procrastination is in there as well. Anyway today I’m bringing you that video finally! I’m dubbing it “Summer Sunflower Fields” so grab a snack and enjoy this 5 minute video! Featuring some appearances from my Sister, I’m not sure if she’s ever shown herself before so this might be her debut appearance.

Did you enjoy? I know the quality isn’t the utmost quality I don’t have the newest camera with all that 4k junk and what not but I make good use out of what I own and I think this came out great in the end. I’m surprised I actually got my sister’s approval for letting her in the Video but yes this is I believe her debut appearance. If you don’t know her my sister runs a blog called Lady AnnaVintage, on this blog she writes Art reviews, Photography Blogs and other Art related topics. Annie actually beat me to it and already uploaded her Sunflower blog with a wonderful illustration and photography from this very same trip. (Like I said, I procrastinated to no end.) Before I show off my few photographs I took you should go check her out first by following this link: http://ladyannavintage.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-summer-sunflower-trail.html .

Back onto the actual trip the Sunflower field was almost like a maze, the flowers were enormously tall so you could get lost quite easily and I believe it went back much farther from what I explored. I actually lost my sister there for a few minutes we got so into our recording and photography we ended up losing track of where each other went. Another surprise that you probably saw on Instagram if you follow me on there is the fact that some people actually put faces in some of the Sunflowers. Yeah this gave me and my sister a laugh. I didn’t know you could actually do this, the only smiling sunflowers I ever heard of was Plants VS Zombies and that one character from Peggle. (Remember her? Yeah.)

Anyway after exploring the Sunflower Jungle we returned with a couple of Sunflowers to decorate our house with. (They were free to pick and bring home.) Only problem with this is Sunflowers tend to have a massive amount of pollen stored in them, which is not good for allergies so they couldn’t stay in the house all that long. We did however collect the seeds out of them so I may try and get myself a green thumb and grow these suckers.

If you live in areas where Sunflowers bloom go out and check them out! Sunflowers bloom from the beginning of summer to near the end of fall with a lot blooming in August so it’s not too late to go Sunflower hunting.

Enjoyed the video and blog so far? Be sure to support me on Patreon! With your help I’ll be able to get better equipment for making even better videos as well as doing some awesome things with the blog.

Moving on I’ve been playing Paper Mario some more. Last time I was just heading into Chapter 4 aka the chapter with the Shy Guy Toybox so some minor spoilers might be ahead. It felt like this chapter wasn’t as long as the previous 3 but the Shy Guys were pretty hilarious with some of them being tricky to beat. Apparently there was this grayish Shy Guy hanging around this treasure chest called Anti-Guy and foolishly I dived into a battle with him. Luckily I saved beforehand because I got completely wiped out in just two turns. I guess I come back to this guy later and beat him, or give him something I’m not sure. If you’re in chapter 4, don’t touch this guy. The partner you get in this chapter might have ended up my favorite partner so far. She’s this little electric ball named Watt who can light dark rooms and also has an incredible support move in battle which increases Mario’s attack power +1 for a few turns, the amount of turns depending on if you perform the action commands properly.

After the chapter was over and the next Star Spirit saved another Peach segment occurred, which happens after every chapter. This is probably the most unexpected and fun Peach segment yet. Peach becomes Solid Snake in Metal Peach Solid and has to sneak past some guards to the lower floors of her castle, which is not easy. She then encounters a really pudgy Shy Guy who loves sweet treats, striking a bargain to cook him something in exchange for information regarding the next location of the lost Star Spirits. I never would have imagined Paper Mario as a Cake baking simulator but what would you know I actually had to BAKE a cake in game, even having to time the length of time it sat in the oven. I know this is no surprise to all of you as you have all probably played this game time and time again but as this was my first time I was surprised. I ended the game after this for now but I’ll be heading to a place named Lavalava Island next.

I’m never quite sure whether to show art WIPS or wait until the final product but I’ve been doing some sketching the past couple of days that will end up watercolor projects for #WorldWatercolorMonth that’s happening this month. First off I have the next entry in my car illustration collection. I decided to go further back then the 57’ Chevy and 60’ Austin Healey and draw a car from 1938.

This is a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop Coupe. Talbot-Lago was an automobile manufacturer originating from France. These cars are absolutely beautiful it’s a shame the company disappeared leaving it’s only traces in the days gone by. The 1938 model might be my favorite model from this company so of course I’m making it my next illustration. To add more to this illustration I decided to also add a person, I mean someone has to drive the car. I figured hey someone from my novel I’m writing Dream Eclipse would fit in perfectly. After drawing Aeris enough I decided to utilize a different character this time, a character that needs some more love, Rachael Scarlet. Rachael Scarlet is a rich upperclass girl in Dream Eclipse but despite her status she’s actually the best friend of Aeris (Who is not rich by any means.). I figured Rachael would fit perfectly in a Woollen Day Suit coupled with a large brimmed hat which is a fashion design that was popular around 1938.

I’m almost ready to start on the watercolor part of this illustration I’m just waiting for a certain something to come in the mail before I begin.

I also did another sketch yesterday that would be classed as fan art. Well I’ve been binge watching Pokemon XY (It’s on Netflix guys.) so I figured why not draw Ash Ketchum. I couldn’t see the Pokemon Anime without this guy (Despite the fact he can’t seem to win at a Pokemon League, ever.) and the Pokemon Anime means a lot to me so it was only time before I did a sketch or two of the characters from the show. This is Ash’s Kalos design and I sketched in a Pikachu as well, though it’s not the best Pikachu sketch In the world I guess. I think I’ll go ahead and turn this into a watercolor piece too once I’m finished with it. Watercolor has become my favorite coloring medium, I could easily do all my work in colored pencil but Watercolor is what I’m into right now.

Before I wrap I have the free knitting pattern of the blog to share! As you may or may not know about me so far is I’m pretty big on knitting dishcloths, they’re easy and quick to knit but can have so much design packed into that little square of cotton goodness. Lot’s of my projects I’ve done so far are dishcloths and I’ve shared a few dishcloth patterns before. So to add to that list today’s FREE Knitting Pattern is “Kitchen Star” by DROPS Design.

This may be one of the most elegant dishcloths I’ve ever laid my eyes on. At first I thought this had some cable knitting in it but it’s actually all lace work. You’ll need some cotton yarn of choice I’m not sure if that matters or not but I assume DK, Sport or Worsted will work. Needles used on here are 3 mm / US 2.5 but this also depends on your gauge and the needles your yarn calls for. The pattern involves Yarn Overs and Passing Slipped Stitch Overs so it shouldn’t be too difficult to knitters new to lace like myself. There’s a chart to read as well and I’m not the best at reading charts but this pattern looks worth challenging myself to do so. I highly recommend you give this pattern a go it’s really elegant and would fit perfectly in a kitchen or on any cloth you please, this doesn’t have to be a dishcloth per say. You can check out this pattern by following this link here: https://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=7334&cid=17.

That’s it for today everyone but before I leave, what’s your favorite part of summer? Leave a comment below! Don’t forget to support me on Patreon if you liked the blog, I appreciate all your support over the past year. (Yeah ZAK Entertainment actually has been around for almost a year now.)

This was ZAK Entertainment, See you on Friday!

Arcadia, Louisiana: Where Bonnie & Clyde's History Runs Deep

Grab my hand, jump in and buckle up because we’re going on a road trip to a place where history still lingers and stretches from corner to corner. Have you ever heard of Bonnie & Clyde? Of course you have, whether through the movies, references in other material or just simple history knowledge. Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow are probably the most famous American duo of outlaws in all of time and operated from the 1930s, with their gang they committed many robberies and murders (Followed up with some narrow escapes.) up until their death on May 23^rd 1934 when a posse made up of Texas and Louisiana Law Enforcement officers ambushed, shot and killed the duo on a little highway in Louisiana woods in Bienville Parish.

Bonnie & Clyde went on to become legends. A lot is still unknown about the couple and some of the media created around them was dramatized but regardless their legend still hangs strong even today, especially in the Gibsland and Arcadia areas of Bienville Parish Louisiana. That little highway they were ambushed on? It’s none other then Highway 154 (The duo in crime were actually heading towards Sailes Louisiana on this road.) and I took a trip with my family out to this famous area yesterday. Standing in the same historic place Bonnie & Clyde were ambushed while driving in their stolen 1930s Ford Model V8 is a monument depicting the ambush along with the date.

It’s a crying shame what’s happened to this piece of history; gunshot damages and spray paint have almost worn this monument down to nothing. It’s difficult to read what this monument originally had etched in its stone. From examining this closely I can make out that it once said

“On this site May 23, 1934.

Clyde Barrow

And

Bonnie Parker

Were Killed By Law Enforcement Officers.

Erected by

Bienville Parish Police Jury.”

Another plaque was erected next to it which didn’t really focus on Bonnie and Clyde themselves but more so the Law Enforcement officers that killed them.

It’s crazy to think the famous almost Romeo and Juliet like partners in crime met their end after 4 years right here on Highway 154. Gibsland, Louisiana which is just a little north of this site has two museums erected in honor of these two, the Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Museum and the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum. I sadly did not get the chance to go into these places but they hold a lot of history. I absolutely want to go into these places for you guys in the near future. Funny enough Bonnie & Clyde apparently grabbed breakfast here before they went 8 miles down the Highway 154 and got shot. (The Ambush Museum being built in the same building that was once the restaurant they grabbed breakfast-to-go in.)

This may be slightly unrelated to Bonnie & Clyde but we took our family trip a little farther to the town of Arcadia. While it has origins stretching back to the 1820’s Arcadia was officially established as a village in 1855.

You can definitely feel the essence of history emanating from the awesome historical buildings stretched as far as the eye can see here in the heart of Arcadia. This used to be the home of an old Railroad depot, and while a railway still runs through this historic town it now serves as the Bienville Chamber of Commerce as well as a Depot museum.

They have this incredible red caboose stationed to the side of the depot, it was really tempting to climb aboard and have a photo of myself taken but it seems someone else beat me to it.

This little green gecko lizard was, to the surprise of me and my sister, hijacking this red caboose for a ride. Sorry to say Gecko but this Caboose no longer moves.

You can still see hints of a much older railway under this pathway.

Arcadia is a pretty awesome historic town. I’ve always loved old towns like this and it’s nice to see it’s not turned into a ghost town like I’ve seen happen with some villages of similar fashion. There are Antique stores, Restaurants and events that are happening year round.

I’ve also always been a big fan of trains and railways; it’s hard to resist staring down the railway, squinting in hopes of seeing the destination in the far distance. (I’m serious about the squinting, the sun was strong yesterday.) Arcadia, Gibsland and Bienville Parish in general are great places to visit, with the history of Bonnie & Clyde surging through the veins of an even larger history. If you’re heading through this place have a stop and see the sights! You can check out more at http://www.arcadialouisiana.org/arcadialouisiana/Arcadia_Louisiana.html.

So I’ve been running this idea on the blog recently where I find knitting patterns related to the main topic of the blog. While for the most part I’ve been successful there have been some failed attempts, such as I wasn’t able to find any knitting patterns for my recent Power Rangers blog and I had to use a sonic pattern for my fitness blog. Thought I would try and find something related to Bonnie & Clyde to use as a free knitting pattern feature… I have found nothing, nothing free anyway or even related to Bonnie & Clyde. Though did you know the yarn brand Louet had two yarn brands running called Bonnie and Clyde? They’re discontinued now though.

I have not given up though! While examine some old photographs of Bonnie and Clyde I noticed Bonnie wore a beret in some of these photographs… This isn’t an accurate match to Bonnie’s beret I doubt it but it’s a lovely pattern regardless. This is the Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret by designer Natalie Larson.

Photograph Provided by http://www.ravelry.com/people/tiffanythomas

Yes you probably can see it, it’s once again another cable knit pattern. I’m sorry I’m crazy about cable knitting; it’s become my favorite kind of knitting. I absolutely love how the cables cross into the middle to form a star/starfish like shape. It’s an incredible design and seems easy enough for people who haven’t cabled much in the past. I only started cable last November with the Waffle Owl Washcloth I knitted my Mum and the Blue Cable Beanie I knitted myself so I’m still kind of new to cable as well but I’ve gotten the hang of it and you can too.

Photograph Provided by http://www.ravelry.com/people/annakg

Speaking of knitting I’ve been so busy the past weekend I’ve barely done any knitting, yikes I thought I said Second Sock Syndrome wasn’t going to affect me this time. Thanks life for getting in the way of my knitting.

Anyway you can check out this pattern here on Raverly! I absolutely recommend it to Beret lovers and Cable Knit lovers alike.

Before we wrap my sister has a brand new blog up on ladyannavintage.blog spot.com with some more awesome photography!

That’s a wrap folks!

American Coots & A Train Out Of Time

Welcome back to ZAK Entertainment, at the CORRECT posting time! If you happened to of noticed on Wednesday… Wednesday’s blog did not go up on Wednesday. No it happened to of gone up at 11:00 PM on Tuesday night, which was the exact time I finished writing it. Apparently I got a little too eager to post and my finger slipped so instead of scheduling it to go up at the usual 5:00 AM CST it ended up being uploaded immediately, whoops. Anyway let’s get the camera rolling right into today’s articles!

They're Not Ducks, They're Coots!

The American Coot, commonly confused as a duck, these swimming birds (Who don’t actually have webbed feet unlike ducks.) typically live in big flocks around most of North America, living in pacific and southern American states year round. Another fun fact, a group of Coots can also be called a “Cover”, which is quite interesting but understandable given their nature and the fact they literally covered this lake The family and I took a trip out to, the same local lake I went to back on my End of a Knitting Beginning and Crossing a Lake of Birds blog. While I could easily describe the serene and tranquil scenery myself I’ve created something even better. I brought my Video Camera with me and recorded some amazing shots of the lake and the hungry and energetic Coots occupying it. So grab some popcorn, or whatever you enjoy eating while viewing videos and check out this compilation I put together!

Really enjoyed editing that together, I say these were some of my best shots I’ve ever taken, all thanks to my USA Flex Tripod. American Coots are pretty awesome birds, must have been a lot of fish in the waters with the amount of diving they were doing. I’m getting better with my editing and I’m quite proud of how this video came out.

A Train Out Of Time

On this very same trip I finally took some photos of this incredible vintage locomotive that’s been sitting here in this very park next to the lake for 60 years and counting. Excuse me while I geek out about trains…

This is a Dardanelle & Russellville (A Railroad Company based out of Russellville Arkansas, D&R) #10, though it wasn’t always a D&R. After doing some research on the train I discovered that it began its life as an Isthmian Canal Commission #278, built by Alco-Cooke in January 1907. This and many other ICC locomotives were utilized in the construction of the Panama Canal, a manmade waterway through the Panama which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific, during America’s involvement in the project. Apparently after the project was completed in 1914 and the ICC dissolved, the #278 was acquired and sold by the Equitable Equipment Company (Scrap dealer based in New Orleans, Louisiana.) to D&R in 1921, becoming the D&R 10. After 36 more years of service it was finally retired in 1957 and placed in this park.

Sadly it’s taken a bit of a beaten over the years but it still stands and I’m glad I finally got some photos of this amazing steam train to show all of you. More information on this locomotive can be found at http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr2216.htm and at http://www.rgusrail.com/ladr10.html. It’s crazy to imagine the vast amount of history behind this locomotive, questions such as “who were its conductors?” run through my head like, well, a speeding train. Perhaps I can somehow get more information and when I do I’ll be sure to report it.

I Am The Fastest Knitter Alive (Not Really.)

I think I might have gotten struck by lightning (Someone blew up a Particle Accelerator.) as I think I’ve been turned into a speedster as far as knitting goes. I had planned on showing off my current progress on my sock, which I still will of course but funny enough the photos I had taken for this blog today are actually OUT OF DATE, ALREADY…

I’ve already finished the body of this self striping sock, the first of the pair and I’ve added in some scrap yarn on one side for later. Why have I done this? Well I’m glad you asked! These pair of socks are going to be afterthought heel socks, which as the name might give away, are a pair of socks you knit and skip the heel until you finish the rest of the sock. I will then go back to the scrap yarn, remove it, and knit a heel. Kind of cool, it works out even better with the fact that these are self striping; it’ll allow me to add in another solid color without it looking out of place. Oh yeah as I mentioned on Wednesday, the ridge has cable in it, which is just a little crazy idea I came up with as I’ve been having a bit of a cable craze lately.

Now back to the part where I mentioned these photos are out of date… Yeah I’ve actually knitted way more of the foot then I originally planned. These socks are just so much fun to knit I had to. What a better way to link this all together but to actually admit I was knitting these in the car during our trip to the lake.

Anyway that’s a wrap folks! Check out ZAK Entertainment on Facebook to keep track of when I post as well as on on Instagram. Also check out my Youtube Channel where I post all sorts of videos from Short Films, Travel, Knitting, Vlogs and more! I recently started up a Tumblr as well so you can check it out at zakentertainment.tumblr.com it's a great place to keep track and interact with me. I'm also on Twitter, Snapchat as ZAKManK, and of course Ravelry! I post here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:00 AM CST (GMT - 6) with a wide range of awesome entertainment topics!

Keep your lives entertaining!

ZAK Entertainment

Knitting My Own Knitting Pattern

Hey everybody welcome back to ZAK Entertainment, bet you can already guess the kind of blog this is, huh? Yup I actually finished that dishcloth project last week!

This is a custom pattern I made from random stitches I was playing around with, this is also my very first custom knitting pattern! Since I began knitting I've had this dream of becoming a knitting pattern designer and this is my very first step! I have also discovered that this is apparently reversible.

I thought this would be a good first pattern to make and put up for free to start my knitting pattern design journey. It's simple but also looks pretty great. I used size US 9 needles to make this as it was meant to be a dishcloth and Mum likes her dishcloths stretchy.

Before I put the pattern up for all of you I decided to knit this pattern up again using WAY smaller needles so the pattern pops out and you can see it in full detail. You'll be able to use just about any size needle (Depending on the yarn you use anyway.) on this but for display purposes I need a cloth that'll actually show up properly on camera. Plus that first dishcloth will be getting used for actual dishcloth stuff so I want a cloth/washcloth of the same pattern that won't get all messed up. So yeah before I put this up for all of you I'm refining it by knitting it on a smaller needle size with smaller yarn. I'm not showing you the project just yet but once it's finished you'll not just get a look you'll get to download the actual pattern too!

For this version of the cloth I've gone ALL the way down to size US 3 needles, which is the recommended needle size for this yarn anyway. I'm using the Abi a Turbo needles once again, these were the same needles I used for my very first sock project. The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy Sport and the color is Silver Sage (Color number is 8062 and Dye Lot is 2486). Though despite me using the recommended needle size this was a really tough and tight cast on. I wasn't under the impression I was casting on too tight but I had a bit of a struggle getting my needle through the stitches on the first row. It definitely doesn't seem too tight now as it has a slight stretch as all washcloths/cloths in general do so I don't really know. Anyway this is also the same yarn I used to make Mum's Cable Owl cloth for Christmas.

This will give you a little idea on how this cloth will look once it's done. I was going to reveal the name of my pattern but I've decided against doing so to keep everything a surprise until I release it.

So yeah! That's my finished dishcloth and I'm now trucking along on my second edition of this pattern. Once I finished this cloth I'll have all the refinements I need to put this pattern up for all of you to try! What started off as Mum just wanting some more dishcloths have turned into something much bigger.

The weather is playing games with me again... It's getting cold again! We've gone from freezing temperatures to super warm 70s-80s to a normal winter temperature in a matter of two weeks. With this weather change I've been inspired to make some more chocolate chip cookies, two batches actually.

And I have a confession to make... they're already gone. I didn't share any with you guys either. I'm so sorry I meant to but I still haven't refined the whole sending food through email yet... and these were SOOOO GOOD! I have completely surprised myself at how well I can bake cookies. Maybe there's hope for baking a soufflé successfully yet! Maybe... haha.

I also baked one of my crazy good Lasagnas once again and I think I have mastered the art of Lasagna baking. I need to try out some new meals because apparently I can cook!

We went on another trip the other day and while it rained a bit I did get to try out my new tripod. (Which I talk about in an earlier blog from two weeks ago) Don't really have any photos to show off from it though, it was actually all video that I was trying out so you'll have to wait a bit for me to edit all that together... I'm actually a bit backlogged on videos I need to work on. We also took Alfie our (Not so little) Chihuahua out with us like we've been doing lately but he's not been the happiest dog in the world.

The little bugger actually sprained his back leg while running around our yard so he's been a bit upset because of that. Though he's apparently good at walking with just three legs. Anyway he's slowly recovering and eventually, when he decides to stop milking his injury for attention from us, he'll start walking on all fours again.

Well we've come to the end of the blog now. I'm going to pop over to knitty.com once I've finished writing this, I've been going there a lot lately (I'm a new knitter so I've only just recently discovered it.) to check out all the awesome new patterns coming out, to find some new projects for myself. (I actually am in the need of a new project actually, haha.) They also have this awesome massive archive that will probably run me out of yarn if I attempt to knit all of these. Mum's all time favorite pattern is on here too actually! It's Bitterroot by Rosemary (Romi) Hill and it's a pretty awesome shawl. Mum has actually knitted this twice before in two different sizes and now she's knitting an THIRD extra large Bitterroot shawl with beads. Quoted from Mum herself "I just can't leave it alone." So it's a pretty cool pattern and I'm mentioning it because I'm thinking of knitting it myself in the future.

There's also this other pattern Mum really loves and I think is beautiful but Mum has always been a bit hesitant on starting it up. It's called Shipwreck Shawl by Bethany Kok. It's an absolutely beautiful shawl but looks like a lot of hard work. Definitely looks like a tricky one.

Anyway we're ACTUALLY at the end of the blog now, haha. Be sure to check me out on Instagram and check out my Youtube Channel where I post all sorts of videos from Short Films, Travel, Knitting, Vlogs and more! Also check me out on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat as ZAKManK, and of course Ravelry! I post here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a wide range of awesome topics! Don't forget to keep track on our social media for when I drop the knit bomb that is my awesome first knitting pattern!

Don't forget to keep your life entertaining and I'll..

See you on the next blog!