Team Flash Faces It's Toughest Challenge in The Flash Season 3

Speed, a lot of us strive to be the fastest we can be. Some of us are almost addicted to the fast paced motion and love the adrenaline that surges through us when we’re hitting the highway or racing in the Indy 500 for instance. Think to yourself one moment and consider what it would be like if you had the ability to tap into a speed force, allowing you to move and think at uncontrollable speeds? What if a bolt of lightning could suddenly thrust your life into one of the speed force? Catch my drift? I’m talking about the Scarlet Speedster himself, The Flash. 

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

Of course The Flash is a mantle that quite a few have taken over the years so let me narrow it down to The Flash who created the speed force, Barry Allen. I’ve been a big fan of The Flash since I was a kid through mostly the old Justice League cartoon however this iteration of The Flash was Wally West, Barry’s sidekick turned full time Flash. This was also the period of time where Wally West was the protagonists of all currently running Flash comics so I really didn’t know much about Barry Allen growing up until recent years with the return of Barry Allen in the comics, Flashpoint, New 52 and most of all the CW show titled “The Flash.” which is what this blog is going to be talking about today. In that sense I have to warn you now this blog will have possible spoilers minor or not for all of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow but luckily for you all seasons aired on TV as of today are on Netflix!

It feels like an eternity since the awesome first season of The Flash ended and we’ve just crossed the finish line of the third season, which I’ll finally dive into now. I’ll discuss more about the first two seasons on future blogs but my blog wasn’t around when the first two seasons were airing so that’s why I guess.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

Coming off from the second season of the Flash I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt going into the third season. Zoom aka Hunter Zolomon, the main villain of season 2 (I didn’t actually like Zoom.) has been defeated in his attempt to completely wipe Earth-2 of the map. Before he was defeated however he killed Barry’s Father Henry Allen and betrayed the entire Team Flash while posing as Jay Garrick. Barry trying to cope with all this decides to travel back in time to the night his mom died and stop Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne from doing so. Oh boy you know what that means, right? Flashpoint!

It had been speculated that the CW show would dive into Flashpoint at some point but it seemed almost jarring for it to happen so early in the show’s life. Barry Allen sure does love to mess with the Timeline and now he’s gone over the line and taken poor Eobard Thawne with him, okay I’m kidding on that last part Reverse Flash is far from being “poor” but you got to feel sorry for the guy, Barry literally locks him in a speed reducing cage in some broken down warehouse while he goes to live with his now alive Mom and Dad.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

Flashpoint as Eobard calls it is a completely alternative timeline, all of Barry’s friends from Team Flash and CCPD don’t even know who he is and Barry is no longer the Flash. (Though still has his powers, for now.) That doesn’t mean Central City doesn’t have a Flash, the mantle of the Flash is taken by a familiar face, Wally West aka Iris’s long lost brother from season 2. Flashpoint has it’s share of metahumans as well one being Edward Clariss who people will know as The Rival from Jay Garrick’s run as The Flash. He takes the mantle of The Rival and Wally’s technical Reverse Flash. After a long fight against The Rival and some help with Flashpoint Team Flash (Cisco’s role will shock you.) Barry discovers he’s losing his memories of his previous life and collapses leaving Eobard to reset the timeline back to the way it used to be. This actually happened all in one Episode which is pretty crazy and sets a big bar for the rest of the season. What seemed like one of those episodes that happen then gets reset as if it never happened would come to affect the entire rest of the season. 

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

You would think stopping Barry from killing his mother would reset everything back the way it should be but as Jay Garrick (Aka Earth 3 Henry Allen apparently.) puts it speedsters are far from gods and can never recreate a timeline as it would be akin to gluing together a broken cup with some of its pieces missing.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

While Flashpoint in this show didn’t have as drastic of an impact as the original New 52 Flashpoint reboot (Because they weren’t exactly rebooting hundreds of comic books.) a significant amount of changes have occurred such as a new character being introduced (Who in this new timeline apparently turned up during the season 2 time period.) by the name of Julian Albert. Now I was not aware of all the castings this season and I was shocked to find Tom Felton (A former Death Eater’s Son.) playing Julian a Meta-human CSI expert working for CCPD apparently alongside Barry unknowingly. I’m not sure whether Julian existed before Flashpoint but Flashpoint brought him into the lives of Team Flash and not just for random reasons either. Caitlin may be the character affected the most through Flashpoint though while I predicted she had these powers before Flashpoint due to the Particle Accelerator explosion it seems Flashpoint was the trigger that has caused her worse fears (After seeing Earth 2 Caitlin as Killer Frost) to come true.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

The first half of the season involves Barry Allen while handling drama from his friends because Barry thought it was great to mess with the timeline is taking on Dr. Alchemy and his cult as he brings the meta-humans present in Flashpoint to the main timeline in preparation of the arrival of Savitar supposed God of Speed. In exchange for their assistance Dr. Alchemy promises that Savitar will provide them with ultimate power under his rule. Basically yeah the main villain is a speedster again and a supposed God of Speed. Savitar takes over as the true main villain after Episode 10.

Speaking of speedsters Wally has to come to terms with not having speed after discovering the truth about his Flashpoint self, which is not easy when you find out your best friend/crush Jessie Quick from Earth 2 has gained speed powers after you both were hit by Barry’s energy in season 2. This season is definitely the season of the most speedster appearances, from The Rival to a future Barry Allen with a pretty slick outfit. Wally goes through a lot this season and I hope next season gives him time to shine brighter.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

Speedsters aren’t the only heroes hanging around this season and this might be my favorite part of the season. Cisco finally suits up as Vibe. Yes my boy Cisco after discovering his powers in Season 2 suits up with his own sweet gig and gauntlets allowing him to channel his vibe energy into vibration blasts similar to his comic counterpart. Cisco also improves his Earth jumping and that brings me to the second greatest part of this season, the Invasion crossover. What started off with Barry and Oliver teaming up for some Flash and Arrow action has evolved into a massive multiverse of superheroes and this team up proves it. I’ve always been a sucker for Superhero team ups and seeing the Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl (Who Cisco vibes to Earth-1) team up with Barry and Oliver in a building which looks a little too close to the Justice League headquarters was an awesome sensation for my eyes. What brought all these heroes together are none other then the Dominators a race of aliens who, well, dominate. Oh yeah and they want to wipe out every Meta-human in existence, which is crazy. Oliver Queen must be getting overwhelmed with all these new meta-humans and super heroes turning up, who knows who’ll turn up later on this year.

I haven’t talked about this character yet but while he didn’t seem important he might have been one of the most vital characters of the entire season. For every season of The Flash so far there has been at least one Harrison Wells, or at least a character that Tom Cavanagh plays throughout every episode. In the first season he played the not so nice guy Harrison Wells owner of S.T.A.R. Labs and secretly the man in the yellow suit himself Reverse Flash. In the second season he played a real version of Harrison Wells from Earth-2 who might be just as much of a genius as his previous season self. He also happened to have a daughter named Jessie Quick. Well this season after Earth-2 Harrison Wells (Harry) decides to leave back to his earth helps Team Flash find a new Harrison Wells in the first ever multiverse interview to find another earth Harrison Wells. 

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

They’re successful and “H.R.” Wells joins Team Flash. Only this Harrison Wells is strikingly different from the previous two Wells. For one he has a love for these drumsticks two, he may be more of an idea man then a genius and proves to not really be knowledgeable in technology or science. He struggles to find his purpose and I wasn’t sure if I liked this version until later on in the season when I realize how he may be the most lovable Harrison Wells of them all. Oh yeah apparently Coffee doesn't exist on his earth and he falls in love with it when he tastes Earth-1 coffee. He also might be the first Harrison Wells not obsessed with Big Belly Burger.

The second half of the season seems to move away from the Flashpoint storyline almost to a point where I forget Flashpoint even happened. It turns from fighting against Flashpoint and it’s effects on people to a fight to save Barry’s true love from the grips of time itself. Though as the show only ended last week and this is where the storyline gets good I’m not sure how I can dive into this part of the season without ruining it for you. All I can say Is Savitar might be the villain who’s more close to Barry’s friends then Thawne and Zolomon ever were. This season of The Flash I’m not sure if it beats Season 1 but it’s just as action packed and awesome as Season 1, albeit a few plot points left loose here (Still got some questions unanswered) and there. Like I said in the beginning The Flash Season 3 actually drops onto Netflix for the US, well this very minute at the moment this blog is up which is pretty convenient I might say. I highly recommend you watch this season despite a few short comings here and there it’s a really great show with new characters that I’ve come to love, such as Julian. Even though I’m not used to seeing Tom Felton play characters other then Draco Malfoy for some reason.

Photos Provided by IMDB.com

A lot of this season revolves around friendships, teamwork and later on a fight for love which while the previous seasons focused on this season really puts a strain on Team Flash as they fight to keep themselves from tearing each other apart. I was hoping that the next season would relieve these meta-humans a little but after that cliffhanger ending, well let’s just say Flashpoint comes back to bite everyone in the ass. The future for Team Flash is unknown but I’m quite excited to see where they’ll take it and I’ll be absolutely sure to keep you guys up to date on any news that surfaces regarding Season 4, I can actually do that this year.

Before I speed away I have one more Flash related topic. Apparently there’s not many DC related knitting patterns out there and finding one for the Flash was really tough. I have found one however and it’s quite snazzy though definitely built for winter wear. This is “Flash Hat” by Megan-Anne Forsythe!

This is a simple beanie pattern but coupled with a sweet Flash emblem to make whoever you’re knitting them for feel like the fastest person alive. This beanie is knitted using sport weight yarn on US 3 – 3.25 MM size circular hat needles. It’s knitted up like a normal beanie and you’ll find the chart for the Flash logo colorworks as well as the full pattern on Megan-Anne’s website: http://knerdyknits.blogspot.com/2009/10/keep-your-brains-off-my-hands.html! Wonder if you could use this chart on something like a pair of gloves too, that would be pretty awesome.

Well that’s it for today! I’ll be talking more about The Flash in the future (Perhaps dive a little bit more in the spoiler zone after you guys have had enough time to watch the season.) perhaps closer to the release of Season 4 but like I said before I’ll try to get out all information regarding Season 4 as it’s released to the public because I’m pretty excited to see the continuation of this show, which is a change to the feeling I had at the end of Season 2. I’ll be reviewing Legends of Tomorrow soon as that actually ended a while back so keep an eye out on that! Sadly I gave up on Supergirl about half way through the show due to loss of interest but I can always catch back up for you guys if you’d like. I actually wish I watched Arrow this season as it seemed to be the best season since the first two so maybe I’ll dive into that when it releases on Netflix June 1^st (Tomorrow.)

Oh yeah! Speaking of DC, Injustice 2 for PS4 and XBOX One has recently released and it’s brought a whole slew of new awesome characters to the table. Really wish It was coming out for the Nintendo Switch but it seems that may not be too far away.

Until then

My name is Zachary Kuhn and I am the FASTEST man alive!

Yeah I wish

That’s a wrap folks!

Splashing Into Summer with Summer Knitting, Magikarp Jump and Despicable Me 3

Hey everybody! Enjoying your Memorial Day? With Memorial Day here we’re pretty much in the end tail of spring going into the heat of summer. Schools are out and kids are excited for their upcoming summer break.  Of course the weather says otherwise and it’s been a complete mess these past couple of days. Rain, lightning storms, you name it. I got a few things to talk about today, some knitting, some Pokemon as well as a new movie on the way out. After a big pirate week with Dead Men Tell No Tales releasing last Friday as well as the release of ZAK Knits Episode 4 I think I’ll keep this a small multi topic blog, which I’ve not done in a while. Sorry if it seems lackluster.

First off as I mentioned before last Friday was the release of ZAK Knits Episode 4! It’s been awhile since I’ve dropped a ZAK Knits Episode with the last one being based on my knitted cable beanie from winter. This ZAK Knits is more of an informative video where I discuss how you can knit cable using more then just a normal cable needle. You don’t need to have a dedicated cable needle and this video will prove that. Check it out below or follow this link: https://youtu.be/qVMDp8n39nI.

Speaking of Knitting and summer it’s come across my mind that Summer time knitting can be a hard time to decide what pattern to knit or even what knitted items to wear. I mean no one wants to wear thick beanies, socks and sweaters and this might be why I’ve been slowing down on the knitting. Then it hit me, Shawls and Wraps, unlike scarves a shawl won’t make you sweat and actually look quite stylish coupled with summer beach wear. Conveniently enough I actually have a shawl on the needles so I should get going on that again. Shawls, especially lace shawls are much lighter, knitted with much thinner yarn and if it is lace the shawl allows for more body breathing. I’ve discovered coming into the world of knitting that shawls can be in all matters of shapes and sizes so there’s a lot of variety involved. Another idea that came to me was beach wraps, now I have minimum fashion knowledge which probably makes me a mediocre knitter so I had no idea what this specific beach wrap I was thinking off was even called but apparently it’s called a Sarong. Which actually can be worn in quite a few ways, some in a more tradition sense by the people of south asia and a lot of pacific islands. More or less despite its variations it’s mostly worn as a wrap around the waist and legs. I actually found a free lace Sarong knitting pattern called “Summer’s Day Beach Sarong” by Rozetti Yarns that would make a great compliment to your beach going outfit that’ll make you look like you own the oceans.

I actually wasn’t sure if I was going to share this or not it’s not popular, actually it’s been completely looked over. But as one of the purposes of this blog is to get unknown patterns out there, why not? Regardless I read through the pattern and it seems like an long but awesome knit. It’s got some pretty lace work without being seemingly overdone with lace. (You can never have to much lace don’t get me wrong but for someone who is still new to lace, yeah I’m not sure if I can handle those crazy but beautiful lace shawls just yet.) You’ll need some DK weight yarn, actually wouldn’t that make this too thick to wear? Anyway you’ll need 5 (Or more depending on the size you’re making, this pattern has specs for increasing the size by quite a bit, which is convenient.) 100g/224 yd balls of yarn. Needles you’ll need are US Size 6 (4.0 mm) straight needles and US Size 5 (3.75 mm) 24” circular needles and a tapestry needle.

Aside from that if you have basic knowledge of lace and yarn overs you’ll be able to create the wonderful elm leaf designed patterns of this sarong with ease. You can check out this awesome pattern by visiting Ravelry or go directly to the pattern from UniversalYarn.com by following this link: http://www.universalyarn.com/patterns/479.pdf.

Happy Summertime Knitting Everyone!

What says summer better then some splashing water? In that regards what is the first thing to come to your mind when you think of “SPLASH”ing water. If you’re a nerd like me you’ll probably mention Magikarp. Remember the minigames in Pokemon Stadium for the N64? I touched on it a bit in my “My Life as a Pokemon Trainer: Generation 1” blog but if you do remember then you’ll probably remember the minigame “Magikarp’s Splash” where you rapidly press A to Splash as fast and high as you can with Magikarp and rack up a high score on the jump counter. I was pretty excited when they announced Magikarp Jump for iOS and Android as it seemed like this minigame would be making a return in the form of this app as well as being the weakest (Yet pretty cool) Pokemon Magikarp’s debut game.

Well after it’s release last week I can safely say this is far from what I thought it was but it may be a cool game for those interested in Virtual Pets with a side of Magikarp Splashing Tournaments. In Magikarp Jump you raise Magikarps like any virtual pet and train your magikarp to compete in splashing tournaments. There are eight leagues in total and many challenges to overcome as you try to become the Magikarp champion. You start you off as a fisherman/trainer as you meet the mayor of Hoppy town by no other name then Mayor Karp.

After a little introduction and a seductively nostalgic song to go along with your character fishes his/her first Magikarp. Sadly unlike the main series Pokemon games you don’t get to press any buttons to fish you just sit back and watch it happen. When your Magikarp is introduced into it’s tank however you’ll be able to tap away at the berries, signaling your magikarp to come over and eat, eating is a way for your Magikarp to increase it's Jump Power or JP for short which will allow you to win more competitions, because it's a jumping competition. (Magikarp doesn't actually learn Bounce.)

After eating and leveling up your Magikarp you can train it using multiple of items to increase it's JP even more, one of these items being a Jump Counter which looks identical to the one from the Pokemon Stadium Minigame. Sadly all you can do is sit and watch again as your Magikarp is trained. Repeating this progress you can level up your Magikarp and continue further with your Magikarp League challenge. I haven’t dived too far into the game but apparently as you beat more competitions your trainer increases in level allowing you to fish and capture higher level Magikarps as well as some sweet looking different patterned Magikarps which I really wish were catchable in the main series game. Hey maybe with the possibility of Pokemon Stars (Self promoted blog discussing said Pokemon Stars here: http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/speculation-anticipation-pokemon-stars.html ) being on the switch we could have more Pokemon variations. Apparently you can lose your Magikarp to a Pidgeotto as well, which sucks.

Overall it’s a fun minigame to pass the time, not exactly what I was hoping for as it could have had a lot more interaction in it as well as possible a splashing minigame where you tapped the screen, similar to Pokemon Stadium but it’s fun for those who enjoy Virtual Pet games because who wouldn’t want Magikarp as a virtual pet? No? Just me? Well I think Magikarp is cool anyway. Anyway this game can actually be a pretty fun wind down game, it's no Pokemon GO trend wise but it's fun in it's own merit and I actually enjoy it better then Pokemon GO. You can download this game from iTunes on iPhone or iPad as well as Android for your Android devices. Though a warning this game does contain microtransactions in the form of paying for Diamonds which allow you to buy decorations and items for your Magikarp's fish tank. I think you can get diamonds through normal play and leveling up your trainer so no fret.

Before I leave, we’ve already discussed the free pattern of the day earlier but I have a new movie trailer to show you guys and it’s pretty despicable. Yes late last year I talked about the upcoming Despicable Me 3 movie where it seemed like Gru was taking his super hero game to the next level by coming face to face with a very retro looking ultra supervillain Balthazar Bratt. Take a look below at the apparent final trailer. (Hopefully, getting tired of the countless trailers from movies lately.)

Well the recent trailers and this one specifically has shown that this movie will be diving into much deeper themes. Themes including the fact that Gru apparently has a twin brother named Dru with long flowing blonde hair that would make Max Beissart (Played by the late Alexander Godunov) from The Money Pit jealous. To make it even better we have Steve Carell playing both Gru and Dru, so basically Steve Carell was talking to himself when voicing these characters, which would he of voiced first? This is question that puzzles me. Also minions in jail? Oh boy. Anyone else notice the amount of adult jokes present in this? I have no problem with this but were the first two movies like this? Maybe I'm just finally noticing them.

Anyway Despicable Me 3 or Despicable M3 as they so cleverly named the movie will be releasing June the 30^th so get your minion merchandise revved up and ready. Actually I didn’t really enjoy the Minion movie that much truth be told I’m more partial to the Minions being just additional side characters.

That’s a wrap folks!

ZAK Knits Episode 4 and a Dream BFF Watercolor Doodle

Grab your knitting needles and some yarn because today is the day. Not sure what I mean? Well while today’s blog may be a bit on the short end side I have something to make up for that. Today is the release day of ZAK Knits Episode 4, the 4^th (Okay technically 5^th.) entry in the ZAK Knits Youtube series where I knit, talk about knitting and demonstrate how I knit. I wasn’t sure if these videos would ever hit off but I’ve actually received some positive feedback that’s motivated me to keep these videos going. Knitting quickly became a passion of mine last September and while I haven’t been knitting as often in the past couple of months I’ve been getting back into the groove.

Without further ado let’s dive right in! Today’s episode will be discussing alternative methods to cable needles as well as showing off my second sock of my after heel sock pair so be sure you give the video some feedback when you’re finished! Oh yeah a certain furry creature makes a special cameo appearance midway in...

Paperclips make a pretty good cable needle don’t they? Truth be told this was actually a random spur of the moment idea from Mum. (She’s been knitting for years so I’m sure she’s had this idea for just as long.) See the cable needles I possessed to me seemed to thick to slip through the sock’s stitches without over stretching them, while that might of just been an over observation from myself I didn’t want to take the risk of overstretching my stitches thus the paperclip came into fruition. If you watched I also tried using a metal twizzler (Which you usually find on loafs of bread packets.) and while it didn’t work as well it was efficient enough if you were to ever lose your cable needle or didn’t have any paperclips. Luckily for me I have hundreds of paperclips, a lot of them hooked together because younger me thought it was a fun game to do so.

Now I didn’t talk much about the sock itself but that’s what this blog is for right? Now you’re probably wondering, Zach you’re not still on the ridge are you? Yes after completely messing up a few weeks ago (You can go read that embarrassment on this blog: ) I’m only just getting back to where I screwed up. I’ve been planning this video for a while now but with events constantly popping up and an almost full week of rainy days and bad light because of said rainy days I’ve only just gotten around to finishing this video. However with this video out of the way I managed to finish the rest of the sock’s ridge later on that day, which means I’m on the part where speed knows no bounds with me.

I’m on the plain stockinette body now, which shouldn’t take me long to finish. As this is an afterthought heel sock (Yeah this was just me trying out how to do an afterthought heel, it seems to of turned into a long term project, whoops.) I’ll be leaving the heels until after I finish this sock, leaving some scrap yarn in place of where the heel will go.

Luckily for you if you’re confused (Trust me I am confused right now.) you won’t have to wait too long. I hope to be able to record ZAK Knits Episode 5 centered on the afterthought heel. I mean I have two socks, I’ll learn how to accomplish it on the first sock then show you guys how to do it on the next sock. Sounds smooth going right? Yeah well fingers crossed. I’m not cementing the date or even if it’ll happen, because I don’t know if I’ll be able to properly show you guys how it’s done once I learn. There will be a ZAK Knits episode based on afterthought heels, even if it’s not this specific sock, I mean there are plenty more socks to knit out there. That’s just something to possibly look forward to in the future. I’ll start hyping it up when it’s actually going to happen.

I’m afraid I don’t really have anymore knitting progress (Trust me more is on the way, I’m in the knitting groove, or you could say knitting stitch, yeah I’m back with the knit puns.), luckily I’m man of many talents (Is my ego growing too large?) and I actually finished, yes I actually finished a watercolor project. This comes from a quick five minute sketch I made to test out my new sketchbook I got for my birthday, the bodies ended up a bit narrow compared to the head so let’s call this a doodle.

Yes, it’s Aeris again. Can you blame me? She’s my brainchild and I’m spoiling her. Decided to finally start switching things up with my character art however and I decided to add this other lady here. She’s been eluded in mystery and I haven’t really let much info out regarding her yet, though I’ve shown a few art pieces wips/sketches of her on the blog and on Instagram. This is Rachael Scarlet, basically Aeris’s BFF.

They’re both from a story I’ve been working on for a long time now called Dream Eclipse. I am going to be writing it into a novel but with my recent dive into art I’ve grasped a desire I got rid of years ago (Because younger me didn’t want to put in the time and practice apparently.), a desire to make comics/graphic novels. I would love to make Dream Eclipse related comic book/graphic novels but that will take a lot of work. Good thing is you have to write a comic before you draw it (I’m probably wrong on which step comes first writing or drawing.) so I can always write Dream Eclipse into a novel while I’m also working on a comic/graphic novel or some sort of side comic. Anyway I’m diverting from the main subject, this watercolor project. This was my first project solely using my Sakura Koi watercolors I got for my birthday as well as my Royal & Langnickel watercolor pencils for the outlines. Once again I could've added more detail to the face to make it more realistic but as this is a doodle and I have like 3 months of art experience I think I’m happy with my watercolor style as it is now.

Now I gotta figure out what to do next, huh.

Anyway that’s about it everyone! I’ll be leaving you guys until Monday, no set topic of course but that’s the fun of this blog. Don’t forget to subscribe to the ZAK Entertainment Youtube channel as I got plans for more ZAK Knits videos as well as other video ideas as well. I’m afraid the videos will still not be consistent compared to the blog but hey I’ve uploaded every week for three weeks straight so far maybe I can find something for next week.

That’s a wrap folks!

Making Port in Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

POSSIBLE MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD

Arrrr!! We’re setting sail one last time for Stranger Tides! With Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales releasing in theatres this Friday, May the 26th in America I’ve been over the past month diving back into the first three Pirate movies and discussing them, giving my thoughts towards the movie. You can check out those blogs, and I recommend you do before reading this blog.

Curse of the Black Pearl
http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/04/curse-of-blogging-pearl-nintendo.html

Dead Man's Chest
http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/setting-sail-for-pirates-of-caribbean.html

At World's End
http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/sailing-over-edge-in-pirates.html

Today I’ll be discussing the recent entry in the Pirates franchise, Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is not my favorite entry in the series and actually I can say this is my least favorite. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t adore it like the previous movies.

After the whole ordeal with Davy Jones, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) pinches (Pirates pirating from pirates.) the map to Davy Jones’s locker from Captain Barbossa and if you saw the end credit scene for At World’s End you’ll see Jack discovers it also leads to the Fountain of Youth (As well as other possible treasures), which is said to grant eternal life, or at least give you a couple more years anyway. 

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Of course things don’t go as planned and Jack, along with first mate Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) with the Pearl nowhere in sight (Thanks Barbossa) end up in London with Gibbs standing trial (As well as being accused of being Jack Sparrow… Whoops) soon to be hung. Captain Jack in attempt to rescue his first mate manages to get Gibbs’s sentence changed to life in prison and after trying to escape Jack ends up face to face with King George II himself. His majesty proceeds to order Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth (Having a map and a magic compass must of caused this.) before the Spanish Navy can locate it. Jack wouldn’t be alone, no King George II appoints Jack to serve alongside an old nemesis now turned Privateer for the British Navy, Captain Hector Barbossa. Yeah apparently the Black Pearl is gone, again. That ship sure goes through a lot.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© 2011 - WALT DISNEY PICTURES/JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS

Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now with a missing leg and no Black Pearl has his own agenda however and seeks to confront the villain of the movie to avenge his leg and the pearl. Speaking of villain, this movie takes a bit of a different approach to the villain of choice. While the previous movies featured Barbossa himself as a villain, who is an original character with some faint inspirations from real pirates and Davy Jones who is based on the legend of Davy Jones’s Locker and The Flying Dutchman (Not Davy Jones from the Monkees) this villain is straight out of real life, though with some Disney exaggeration, the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge.  

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© 2011 - WALT DISNEY PICTURES/JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS

Blackbeard, real name Edward Teach (Not sure if this applies to the movie.) was a pirate from the early 1700s who operated around the West Indies and at the time the eastern coast of Britain’s North American Colonies. (Before the USA was a thing.) Blackbeard proved to be a fearless and dangerous pirate in those times and it only makes sense for Pirates of the Caribbean (Which takes place during that time period) to finally bring Blackbeard into the Pirate mix. As far as the Disney exaggeration (Bringing just Blackbeard into the movie wouldn’t be that interesting) well Blackbeard just so happens to wield the mythical “Sword of Triton” that allows him to almost become one with his ship, in pretty scary ways.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© 2010 - Walt Disney Pictures

Also along for the ride is another Jack Sparrow? Or should I say Angelica (Penelope Cruz) who disguises herself as Jack in order to commandeer a crew to find the Fountain herself. Basically a lot of people are after this fountain. Angelica just so happens to be, one of many, of Jack’s former lovers and after a reencounter Jack gets swooned and shanghaied aboard Blackbeard’s ship.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© 2011 - WALT DISNEY PICTURES/JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS

After a failed mutiny aboard Blackbeard’s ship Jack is forced to guide the Blackbeard crew to the fountain. It’s not so simple however and the crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge must retrieve a couple of items before heading to the fountain. First off they must have two silver chalices and then the tear of a Mermaid. These aren’t your typical Disney Mermaids however they tend to bite. See the Fountain of Youth isn’t an automatic way of becoming immortal; actually it’s impossible to become immortal via the fountain. One must drink from the chalice without a tear and one must drink the chalice with a tear, these chalices being filled with water from the Fountain. In doing so one’s remaining years will be transferred to the person drinking the tear and the wielder of the non tear infused chalice will die. There’s always a catch, huh?

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© 2010 - Walt Disney Pictures

Anyway this movie while being my least favorite does have an interesting plot, though it seems to drag on and to me seemed like a long movie, odd part is that this movie is actually the shortest movie out of the entire series. Not to down the movie too much but I also found myself missing certain characters from the previous movies such as Mr. Cotton, Cotton’s Parrot and Pintel and Ragetti. Jack the Monkey does make a small appearance however when Jack discovers the Black Pearl has been shrunk down by Blackbeard’s magic and shoved into a bottle. Despite the downers I still enjoyed Johnny Depp as well as Geoffrey Rush’s performance like always and I have to say Ian McShane made a pretty awesome Blackbeard. This is very much a standalone film somewhat like the first movie and while I don’t like it as much as the previous movies it’s definitely worth watching in anticipation for the first movie.

Fun fact about this movie is that it’s actually based on a book! Yeah this movie is actually based on the events of the 1987 released Tim Powers “On Stranger Tides” novel. While Jack is not present in said novel it’s still based around the same plotline of Blackbeard seeking the Fountain of Youth. I’m actually surprised I didn’t put the two and two together until now, On Stranger Tides is a classic historical pirate fantasy novel. There’s actually a unabridged audio book of “On Stranger Tides” on Hoopla (Read this blog to learn more about Hoopla: http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/unlock-free-online-book-library-with-hoopla.html) so I think I’ll be giving that a listen while I knit/paint! (Can you knit and paint at the same time? No idea maybe I should try that, I got feet maybe I could paint with my feet.)

To watch this movie go check it out on iTunes a lower then expected price of $12.99 for HD and, well $12.99 for SD. I guess HD is the way to go if you can handle the download.

That’s the final Pirates of the Caribbean blog for now, thanks for joining me on this cruise through these awesome Pirate films! The pirate journey isn’t over however as this Friday May 26^th marks the release in theatres of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Film Frame - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This is the beginning of the final adventure for Jack Sparrow as he comes face to face with an old enemy from his youth.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Film Frame - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem) a former Spanish navy turned zombie pirate hunter (Haven’t we done this before? Though I don’t think Barbossa was this flakey.)  after he escapes from the Devil’s Triangle (The infamous Bermuda Triangle.) seeks to wipe out every pirate in existence, most of all Jack himself and his determined to find the legendary Trident of Poseidon which seems to be this movie’s treasure. Along the ride is also Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner, guess who? Yes before leaving for the 10 year curse it seems William Turner managed to have a child with Elizabeth Swan. All grown up now (Man how old is Jack at this point?) he seeks to break the curse that’s stopping him from reconnecting with his father. He’s also joined by Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth, a go getter astronomer.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

© Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Sounds like a pretty awesome wrap up to the Pirates of the Caribbean film series especially with Orlando Bloom coming back as Will Turner and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swan. Sucks that Pintel and Ragetti will STILL not be in this movie, I guess they didn’t survive when Blackbeard attacked the Black Pearl. Speaking of the Black Pearl I’m hoping they wrap up that storyline as well. Anyway it’s releasing this Friday so be sure to go check it out! I’ll be discussing that movie later on this year when it gets a digital release on iTunes and DVD. Also has anyone else noticed how they managed to get someone who looks like he actually could be William or even Orlando Bloom's son?

That’s not the end however! Something else is releasing this Friday, May 26^th. This Friday marks the release of the 4^th entry in my ZAK Knits Youtube series! Yes after a couple months absence and a lack of knitting I’m back in the groove and bringing you a new ZAK Knits episode. Basically I knit, talk about knitting and show you guys how I knit. (I’m saying it like this because I’m not 100% certain I’m doing everything the RIGHT way.) These episodes have been a blast to record and edit and I can’t wait to start bringing more to the ZAK Entertainment Youtube Channel. Before the new Episode launches early Friday morning check out the previous 3 entries (And one mini entry) by going to the ZAK Knits youtube playlist! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiAcQAX8vtXr3SUFzkEkKFdyGP4yxJY-4

As a teaser here’s a photo I took of the project I’m working on right after filming. Yes this new ZAK Knits episode will focus on my afterthought heel sock project, more importantly doing the cable row. See I’m not using a normal cable needle and you’ll see what I mean on Friday. You’ll soon learn you don’t always need a dedicated cable needle to do cable knitting. I’m sorry about the lack of knitting on my part lately, after recording this video however I’m back in the groove so I should be pushing through this sock project and hopefully some new projects!

Until then however I’ll see you guys on Friday.

That’s a wrap folks!

PS I know some of you are pretty excited after last night's Flash season finale... Keep an eye out soon when I discuss the 3rd season!

Sailing Over The Edge in Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End

MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD! I try my hardest to write blogs and avoid every spoiler without the blog sounding like an advertisement… Which it clearly isn’t but sometimes a small detail slips through.

Be sure to check out my previous Pirate movie discussions below before diving into this blog!

Curse of the Black Pearl:

http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/04/curse-of-blogging-pearl-nintendo.html

Dead Man's Chest:

http://zakentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/setting-sail-for-pirates-of-caribbean.html

Chaos at the sea, a stolen heart, a pirate dragged to the bottom of the sea and a pirate resurrected. This is what a waits you in the finale to the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. After an apparently lackluster 2^nd movie (Though if you read my previous blog you’ll see I enjoyed it just as much as the first movie.) director Gore Verbinski and writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio bring the Davy Jones’s arc and the Pirates Trilogy to a thrilling, action packed close.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

For those who watched the 2^nd movie (Which you should of done if you’re reading this blog.) Jack Sparrow and his ship the Black Pearl was dragged to the depths of Davy Jones’s Locker after coming face to face (Literally.) with Davy Jones’s Kraken after being betrayed by Elizabeth Swan in order for his crew to escape the Kraken’s wrath.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Meanwhile Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company in his quest to control the oceans has taken his fight against piracy to the extreme. Davy Jones as an antagonist almost takes a step back and Lord Beckett really seems to take the spotlight as this movie’s antagonist. Speaking of Davy Jones, Lord Beckett, after blackmailing the octopus sailor man, has convinced Davy Jones to do Cutler’s dirty work, destroying all pirate ships in the seas.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In wake of this the Nine Pirate Lords have been summoned by the Pirate King to convene at Shipwreck Cove to hold the Brethren Court. Only problem is, one of the Pirate Lords just so happens to be in Davy Jone’s Locker… Yeah Jack Sparrow surprisingly is a Pirate Lord. Elizabeth Swan, William Turner, Gibbs, the recently resurrected Captain Barbossa (Who is a Pirate Lord as well.), Tia Dalma (Who resurrected Barbossa in the first place) and the former Black Pearl crew head to Singapore to recruit the help of fellow Pirate Lord Captain Sao Feng, who just so happens to have a map that leads to Davy Jones’s Locker. After a conflict with the Singapore Pirates and Beckett’s British soldiers and map in hand Captain Barbossa and crew, after acquiring a ship head to Davy Jones’s Locker to retrieve Jack and form the Brethren Court.

Like the previous two Pirates movies this movie starts strong and possibly my favorite scene once again is the Singapore scene. The rest of the movie continues the momentum and really gets tense towards the end of the film. 

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Photo by Stephen Vaughan - © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This may be the best performances out of the entire cast of this movie, unlike the previous movies where Johnny Depp seemed to have taken the spotlight actors such as Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom with Elizabeth and William’s romance and Geoffrey Rush who we get to a see a different side of Barbossa from, a more protagonist side. The protagonist spotlight seems to fall on William Turner and most of the movie revolves around him and his father Bootstrap “Bill” Turner. That’s not saying this was Johnny Depp’s best performance either, especially in the start of the film where we see Jack cope with being stuck in Davy Jones’s locker in his own, quirky way. Oh yeah I never mentioned them in the previous two blogs but Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Cook) are probably some of my favorite characters in these movies despite their roles not being as large as Jack or Will. They add comic relief without going too off the walls and I just enjoy their characters in general. Ragetti gets to do something pretty special in this movie too. Sucks those two characters are not returning in the new movie.

Remember when I mentioned on the last Pirates blog that Paul McCartney was making a cameo appearance in Dead Men Tell No Tales? Well he isn't the first star to cameo in these movies... No Keith Richards who everyone knows as being a famous musician as well as founding member and lead guitarist for the Rolling Stones makes a cameo appearance in this specific movie as well as the following sequel. What character Keith Richards plays however is something you guys will have to watch the movie to find out, it's kind of a cool cameo and I don't want to spoil it despite the movie being ten years old. While Keith isn't appearing in Dead Men Tell No Tales it would of been cool to see Keith interact with Paul McCartney in said movie. I also discovered another fact regarding Keith and Pirates of the Caribbean is that Johnny Depp, when formulating how he would act as Jack Sparrow for the first film based his performance on a personality mixture of Keith Richards and apparently Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes... which explains Jack's womanizer side.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

Once again the soundtrack compliments the movie to a key and might be Hans Zimmer’s best work aside from The Dark Knight Trilogy. “Hoist the Colours.” And it’s instrumental variant “What Shall We Die For” are my favorite songs out of the entire soundtrack. This perhaps is my favorite soundtrack from Hans Zimmer.

Finally the visual effects, there has been visual effect in the two previous movies, with Barbossa and his undead crew and Davy Jones and his crew of barnacle covered cronies but this movie really takes that to the next level. Though I have to say it does falter a bit towards the end of the movie, maybe it’s just my eyes but those wood splinters that are sent flying when Lord Beckett’s ship is destroyed aren’t very real. Some actually look like they’re flying through Lord Beckett but unless he’s a ghost, that’s impossible.

Photo Provided by IMDB.com

After rewatching this movie and the previous two I can safely say this might be my favorite out of the Trilogy, beating the first movie out by a slither. It’s an incredible thrill ride from start to end with a massive cast of swashbuckling pirates. With the amazing soundtrack to compliment it’s action and the almost flawless Visual Effects this is an epic conclusion to the Pirates Trilogy. Of course that wouldn’t be the end of Jack Sparrow’s adventures and he would continue, with map in hand to search for the Fountain of Youth in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger’s Tides. I’ll be discussing that movie later on this week in anticipation for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales which actually releases this Friday May 26^th. While the 4^th movie isn’t my all time favorite and may be my least favorite it’s worth discussing. If you haven’t seen the first Pirate’s Trilogy I highly recommend checking them out via iTunes! You can buy At World’s End from iTunes for $17.99 for an HD copy or $9.99 for an SD copy.

Of course you can’t set out on the seven seas without a pirate hat and that brings me to today’s free knitting pattern, which actually doesn’t look like a knitting pattern at all. This is the “Tricorn Hat” by Laura Thomas & Heidi Waterhouse!

Photo Provided by slightlyfoxed on Raverly

Definitely doesn’t look like a knitting pattern at first glance and I almost thought I made a mistake when searching for Pirate knitting patterns but this is a knitting pattern as knitting patterns can be. The reason it looks like this is because the end result is actually felted. I’ve never felted any project on purpose before, though I have accidentally felted a few socks in the past, so I’m not really knowledgeable on the whole process. Equipment you’ll need is 1 29-inch cable US Size 13 Circular Needles, 600 yards of felt able worsted-weight wool, 10 Stitch Markers 3 medium stainless steel safety pins of some kind, she recommends quilting pins, a tapestry needle and finally a Washer machine.

Photo Provided by cwisemookie on Ravelry

At first glance this pattern looked quite difficult but it’s just built up using increases with knits and purls and some sewing. You can check out this pattern on http://www.knitlikeapirate.com/projects/tricorn.shtml and if you want to see what other knitters have done with this project be sure to check out the pattern on Raverly! As far as the felting process goes knitlikeapirate.com has a felting tutorial for three different methods. (Even a method for those who don’t want to use their washer/dryer) Apparently this hat is going to look quite big before felting so don’t panic if it looks off before you felt it. Oh yeah! You can’t have a pirate hat without a feather so maybe I can convince one of my birds, maybe Monty the Miligold Macaw to lend me a feather for when I do this hat.

Well we’re at the finishing line for today’s blog. Sorry if things seem a bit short today but I’m not going to let a little cold stop me from blogging for you guys even if it’s not as long as normal. Before I leave however I have to remind you of something else releasing on May the 26^th… ZAK Knits Episode 4! Yes I’ve already begun editing it after finally filming this new episode of ZAK Knits. I’ve got quite a few ideas for future ZAK Knits and with the positive reception I’ve received on my first three episodes I’m eager to keep these Episodes rolling out. I know it’s been a few months since Episode 3 but hopefully ZAK Knits as well as my video uploads in general will become more consistent in the future. At lease I’m being consistent with this blog as I haven’t missed a day on my schedule since starting last September. Anyway be sure to visit the ZAK Entertainment youtube channel and this blog on Friday May 26^th for the release of ZAK Knits Episode 4! I’d give you guys a time but I post all my stuff early in the morning at 5:00 CST so it doesn’t matter it’ll be up before you guys are up thanks to prescheduling. Truth be told I don’t actually write the blog that early in the mornings it’s always the day before then I schedule it to go up at 5:00, there’s a little behind the scenes fact of the blog. With that all said and done I be setting out to Stranger Tides to search for more pirate knitting booty.

That’s a wrap folks!

My 2017 Birthday Gifts: Pokemon Sun & Moon Cards and Watercolor Goodies!

While I'm definitely not a kid anymore Birthdays are still a fun, enjoyable day for me despite my birthdays being way more busier then they used to be. If you have a birthday today or one coming up then I wish you the happiest of Birthdays. Now while I am not a kid anymore that doesn't mean I don't receive gifts anymore. Yeah I still (Unintentionally) con my parents into getting me stuff and on today's blog after some heavy comic and movie discussions from the past couple of weeks I'm winding down with a more relaxed blog.

That doesn't mean this blog will by lackluster by any means, nope this blog is going to be just as jam packed as I'm going to be showing you guys what I got for my birthday. To start things off per tradition I got three Pokemon card packs. This time I finally got ahold of some Sun and Moon packs after a pretty cool 6th generation (Ending on a Nostalgic note with Pokemon TCG XY Evolutions.) and I have to say these Sun and Moon packs, specifically one of them may be some of the best packs I've ever opened. Now instead of just showing everyone on the blog I've recorded a new Pokemon TCG Unboxing video for you guys to enjoy so let's dive on in!

Did I get a little TOO excited? These pulls were just amazing especially that Eevee pull. Like I said in the Video despite collecting Pokemon Cards every year since Pokemon TCG Team Rocket I have never EVER gotten myself an Eevee card. It almost seemed impossible until today.

This Eevee card will definitely be an outstanding part of my collection despite being a common grade card. (I collect all cards regardless of rarity... Gotta Collect Em All) Another favorite out of this same pack is the Full Body Lillie Trainer Card.

I'm pretty partial to Lillie she is one of my favorite characters out of Pokemon Sun and Moon's incredible character cast and having this full body art is awesome. Truth be told this is actually my first full body trainer card I've ever pulled despite these full art cards first being introduced in Pokemon TCG Black and White.... Never said I had the best of luck.

For those who can't watch the video let's take a look into what I pulled!

(I'll get better photos for you guys soon, I plan on doing multiple blogs spanning all my collection.)

Also you guys have to check out this awesome card I pulled, it's a Crochet/Amigurumi Poliwag card!

Pretty awesome right? I believe it's crochet but the environment might be knitted i'm not sure. Regardless this is a pretty awesome card. Though I have to ask... Is there a hidden meaning behind this card? Are we getting a Yarn Pokemon game? Pokemon's Woolly World? Pokemon Yarn Version? Maybe that's just wishful thinking, that would be pretty awesome to be honest, I'm not kidding.

While we're still on the subject of Pokemon I also got some new volumes of the currently running Pokemon XY Manga. This XY Chapter has proven to be an incredible chapter in the Pokemon XY manga series and it's even cooler when a certain character from the Red and Blue chapter has become part of the storyline again after not being involved since Generation 3.... Okay I was avoiding spoilers but if you look at the cover art you can obviously tell who it is.i've also finally gotten the first volume of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire which serves as sort of a sequel to the generation 3 manga and works as a sister manga to the XY storyline. I was hesitant to get this series just yet as I haven't read the Ruby and Sapphire mangas completely but I'm pretty well versed on the storyline so I don't mind. As a big fan of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire the games I can't wait to give this series a go, I just have to get a hold of the old RSE manga but as Box Sets exist that might not be so far in the future. I have discussed the XY series in the past but I should probably write a better discussion in the future. I'll talk more about these books soon so stay tuned!

Okay now we're switching gears to the 2nd big topic of my birthday. With my recent art journey and my newfound love and goal of watercolor my Mum seems to have picked up on my interest and I'm now completely set, I have everything I need and more.

First off Mum got me this Sakura Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box. This was a surprise, to be perfectly honest so far I've been using Crayola Watercolor and while I don't discriminate against crayola they're pretty good for beginners especially for someone who wasn't sure if he was even going to like watercolor like myself.

Anyway these Koi Water Colors are really good and you might be able to tell I've already given these paints a test run. This box comes with 24 paints and the colors provided are pretty much the only colors you'll ever need. It's got Crimson Red, Yellow Ochre, Cobalt Blue and a color named Jaune Brilliant which after diluting with water or mixing other colors into it makes all the skin tones you need, which is great for someone who illustrates human characters like me. This isn't a full blown review so I haven't set up any proper swatches to showcase how the colors work but take a look at this.

The colors almost seem like professional grade and while I won't ditch my crayola I'm absolutely glad I have these paints as they are better. This really is a field sketch box as it comes with a convenient paint pallet, two sponges for blotting, cleaning and drying your brush and this water brush that holds water. I haven't owned a water brush till now but it's quite awesome. All you do is squeeze the body to dampen or soak the brush and it can make water consistency a tad easier. I also noticed you could actually cut up some Watercolor paper to fit into the inside of the lid for even more mobile convenience. If you don't have one of these and you're an avid watercolor painter you should get one of these even if you don't go out often. This ranges from 16-20 USD dollars so check around your art stores and get yourselves one! There's actually sets with up to 48 colors... that's a lot of colors. While it's out of the norm for me maybe I should do a video/review demonstrating these paints. Maybe I can get my artistic Sister to join in who knows.

Of course you can't paint water color without Watercolor paper and Mum has given me this large Canson XL pad of watercolor paper.

This holds 30 sheets of 140 lb/300 g cold pressed watercolor paper. I've already experience this paper once before by using some of Mum's paper so this should be a lot better then the 90 lb cold pressed I started off with. 30 might not seem much but as I don't always using the whole sheet for one piece and cut the pieces down to various sizes this should last me a good while, I'm not exactly fast at pumping out Watercolor pieces anyway. (I'm not good enough for that.) Canson has a great quality and while it's not Mum's fancy Arches Cold Pressed Cotton Paper I'm happy to finally have some 140 lb to myself in a brand I love.

Finally to aide in my Watercolor venture I'm trying out something new. These are Royal & Langnickel Watercolor pencils. Yeah I was confused at first two but apparently these pencils are made out of a similar material to water color cakes and while they may apply like a normal colored pencil once water is added they turn into, well Watercolor.

Using these you can create some pretty awesome effects. I was eager to get them because they should be better for my watercolor line art then normal colored pencils. This is a completely new medium to me so I haven't dove into it fully but I can say these do work and blend nicely when water is added. This also comes with a pretty awesome medium sketching pencil and a thin tip round Watercolor brush for doing details. This set comes with all the primary colors and any other color can be made simply by blending the pencils or using regular Watercolor. This is another art piece I should really do a video on in the near future. Oh yeah this box as well as having the Royal Crown on it has this hole on the back of the box, wasn't sure what this was at first but apparently it's to drain the water out of the box if your pencils are still wet.

That's the end of my watercolor birthday gifts and thank you Mum for getting me all this stuff it was quite surprising but I guess you see potential in me as a watercolor painter.

Well not everything went smoothly but I got these 10 set of skin tone Watercolor makers from Crayola. I got these because I wanted to do comics and these seemed like a good way of getting used to makers. Now I highly doubt this is Crayola's fault it's probably where I ordered it from but it seems my markers are already dried out.

See I've watched videos of people using these and they were quite vibrant accurate colors but mine are far from that. Well the darker skin tones are fine and dandy but what's supposed to be a beige skin tone is... Not beige. I also can't use the sides of these markers for thicker lines because it just doesn't show up. I guess I got some dried out makes from the warehouse of the place they were ordered from, oh well. While the quality isn't what I expected I think they'll do okay if I mix them with watercolor, though that wasn't the main purpose of it they're too blotchy to use on their own. Guess I'll look for a different brand, maybe an alcohol based brand.

Moving on the last birthday gift I got is this new Sketchbook. Up until now I've been using this massive sketch book and these smaller but cool homemade sketchbooks but in wake of my art urge I've actually used up my two homemade sketchbooks (Whoops I drew too much.) so Mum got me this 100 sheet Strathmore Sketchbook.

100 sheets is quite a lot so I don't expect to fill this up for a bit. Though I've already done two sketches and while they're not magnificent I'll show you guys what I've sketched so far.

Yes that's a Mantine from Pokemon. I actually want to do more Pokemon illustrations (These new Pokemon Cards only fueling my inspiration) so I thought in pure random... Why not Mantine? Mantine is a pretty awesome Pokemon and a beast in the new Generation 7 metagame. It's not super great I did it on a whim but I also added a little Remoraid under him as well.

Next up I drew Aeris Eclipse again... This time pictured with her best friend Rachael Scarlet next to her.

Have I shown you guys Rachael before? She's another OC of mine from the same story as Aeris. While it's not superb I may turn this into a little watercolor piece. It's nice to finally draw something in a different angle, I'm slowly breaking into more poses. It's just a quick doodle anyway.

Two sketches done only 98 pages to go. This sketchbook also allows you to fold your pages back which is convenient but I did notice the binding isn't a complete loop and sometimes the pages get stuck.

So that's my Birthday gift haul and I love every piece of it (Even though the markers didn't work out so well.) I don't think I can express how much I'm glad Mum gave me the chance to get these watercolor supplies. I'll be a gallery artist before you know it, haha. Jokes aside I think I'll go pretty far with these supplies so all you need to do now is see what I create with all this. Like I said previously there are certain items such as my Koi paints and Royal Watercolor Pencils that I want to actually do videos on in the future so stay tuned for that!

Speaking of videos I have a big announcement... So as you've noticed I've not done much knitting lately, if any. I apologize for this but my knitting has been held up and one of my excuses that aren't really excuses is the fact that I haven't been able to film this one specific video until now which has held up my progress on the self striping socks I'm making my sister. That's all changed and knitting (In the sense of my own work, I haven't done a blog without mentioning it at least once.) is coming back full force starting with Episode 4 of ZAK Knits! Yes ZAK Knits my YouTube series where I knit, discuss knitting, and show you how to knit is coming back NEXT FRIDAY! It's filmed and ready to be edited so on Friday the 26th prepare yourselves for ZAK Knits Episode 4. Catch up on my previous episodes by going to this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiAcQAX8vtXr3SUFzkEkKFdyGP4yxJY-4. Until then here's a little teaser...

That's a wrap folks!