Brian Jay Jones is NOT the dead Rolling Stone, but he is the author of the most recent bio of Washington Irving, called "An American Original."

Besides being a total Irving fanatic and pop culture junkie, Brian is an all around cool guy who makes his daily bread as a policy wonk in Maryland.

He spoke at Irving's homestead of Sunnyside last fall, captivating the crowd with his tales of Irving's exploits. His book takes a different, more personality-based approach than the first, also excellent, Irving bio published in 2007, "The Original Knickerbocker" by the historian Andrew Burstein, who provides an in-depth analysis of Irving as an American icon.

We enjoy Brian's Literary Conceits blog, particularly his recent four-part series covering an NYC trip, and thought you might too.

Frequent visitors to Historic Hudson Valley sites know the organization's museums of history are pretty cool, pretty historic, pretty educational, and just plain pretty, but there's a whole world out there who haven't visited yet. And while it's one thing for the folks at HHV to tout the value of a visit, it's quite another entirely to get a nod (several, in fact) from the style arbiters at Westchester Magazine.

The cover story of Westchester Mag's May issue, currently on newsstands, is entitled "56 Things every Westchesterite should do (at Least) Once." HVBlogger is proud to report that HHV stuff accounts for numbers 2, 6, 8, and 19 of those things. Not bad!

Number 2: "Read Washington Irving's Short Story"

Calling it "Westchester County's very own ghost story," writer Nancy L. Claus notes The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a must read - simply watching Johnny Depp's movie doesn't cut it. Bonus points, she says, if you visit Sunnyside, the Historic Hudson Valley homestead of Washington Irving. Indeed!

Number 6: "Visit the Rockefeller Home"

Ms. Claus calls Kykuit "spectacular indoors and out." With its six-story stone mansion, modern art and sculpture, and elaborate terraced gardens, a visit to Kykuit can make you feel pretty, well, Rockefeller-like. "Even if your great granddaddy didn't start Standard Oil, you can still experience a taste of the über-good life by visiting Kykuit," says Ms. Claus. Conveniently, Kykuit opens for the season on Saturday. More conveniently, you can book a timed tour in advance online.

Number 8: "Admire Chagall Windows (and a Matisse, too!)"

Being the HVBlogger, I tend to find myself telling people about the Union Church of Pocantico Hills. And I find myself enjoying it when they are delightfully surprised to hear it contains stained glass windows by modern masters Henry Matisse and Marc Chagall. Westchester Mag was duly impressed, hence the Number 8 spot.

Number 19: "Visit the Great Pumpkin(s)"

BlazeBlogger is a little miffed this 4,000-pumpkin extravaganza wasn't Number 1 (though it is featured in the cover photo montage, as you can see), but he's a bit singular in his focus. He should take some comfort in Ms. Claus' high praise, indeed, for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. "(M)an oh man, you're in for a treat this October...Wind your way along candlelit paths, while spooky music plays, and oooh and aaah over the cemetery of ghosts, the patch depicting dead musicians, even a replica of our very own Headless Horseman. Grab a kid (or your inner child, if you don't have one) and get crackin'! Reservations are necessary - and tickets sell out fast." She's not kidding about that. Blaze is an October thang, but watch this space for ticket info this summer.

Mother's Day is nearly here. Want to spice up a day typically filled with chocolates, flowers, and (overpriced) special restaurant menus? The good folks at Washington Irving's Sunnyside are cooking up a treat that just might satisfy the need for a little diversity in your Mother's Day plans.

 On Sunday, a dozen artists will be scattered throughout Sunnyside's romantic landscape, putting pen and brush to paper and creating new works on site, for a special Sunday event called Artists-on-the-Hudson.

Visitors are invited to come hang out, watch the artists work, and create their own masterpiece as well. You can drop in anytime from 10-5. There'll be a lemonade reception for the artists' finished works around 4.

No brunch plans? You've got options right on site. Geordanes of Irvington (yum yum) will provide a mix-and-match menu and all the fixings for a picnic lunch.

In the afternoon, there's even a bit of music, courtesy of the Singing Spring Sisters.

Why artists? Why here?

 "Irving shared a common fascination of the Hudson Valley and its flora and fauna with Romantic artists like Thomas Cole and George Harvey," explains Dina Rose Friedman, site director of Sunnyside and an artistic sort herself.

"Many of those artists were inspired by the Hudson's landscape, so our event taps right into that tradition," she told HVBlogger.

Artists taking part include Jan Aiello of Croton, Barbara Barbieri of Garrison, Renee Edelman of Ossining, Vern Ford of Bedford Corners (and Blaze fame ), Elaine Friedman (Dina's mom. How cool!) of New Rochelle, Betsy Leitzes of Irvington, Margaret Leveson of Brooklyn, Ronnie Levine of Tarrytown, Constanza Mallol of Hastings, Doreen Picker of Peekskill (and Blaze fame ), Shelley Robinson of Sleepy Hollow, and Ella Yang of Brooklyn.

Yes, you can easily buy tickets online.

With its working grist mill, footbridge over the Pocantico River, and little lambs scurrying about, Philipsburg Manor is perennially popular with the younger set. This year, the PM powers that be are offering a new tour geared for children 6-12 and their parents.

The "Hands on the House" tour, offered weekends at 11:30 and 2:30, focuses on the site's Manor House, its inhabitants, and the tasks they had to perform during the 18^th century.

There are numerous opportunities for kids to literally put their hands on the house (and its non-artifact stuff). To cite a couple, in the dairy, all of the items are reproductions that allow children to feel first-hand, for example, a butter churn and milk buckets. In the house's warehouse rooms, a number of reproduction objects let visitors appreciate the wide variety of goods available during the colonial period and the vast network of trade that allowed these goods to make their way around the globe.

Tickets for ALL Philipsburg Manor tours, including Hands on the House, are now available in advance online. Rather convenient, particularly when you can only visit at a specific time or want a specific tour.

The classic tale of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow continues to inspire creative types nearly 200 years since Washington Irving penned it. Now, the latest film to pay horror homage is released on DVD today by First Look Studios. Entitled Headless Horseman (obviously these folks wanted to cut right to the chase, literally), it debuted in theaters last October.

This film follows seven youngsters who end up in a mysterious town on Halloween night, only to discover, yes you guessed it, the Headless Horseman. Convenient for the Headless one, though not so much for the group of seven interlopers, he needs to collect seven heads before the night is over. Doing their best to follow in the footsteps of Children of the Corn, the locals work diligently to keep the strangers' heads in town, if not detached.

You can watch a trailer for the DVD by clicking the image below.

Oh, and get this! The film stars Richard Moll of Night Court fame. He played the wacky bald bailiff, Bull. Bonus!