The first week of the Blaze YouTube Video Contest is over and ladies and gentlemen...we...have...a...WINNER!

Brian Aaron Beckwith uploaded a really great video to YouTube and by doing so, has won an iPod touch, courtesy of WHUD.

Do YOU want to win an iPod touch? You've got three more chances, since the Blaze  gurus are giving away one each week.

Come to Blaze this wekeend, film it, edit the footage, and get it on YouTube by midnight Tuesday. Next week's winner will be announced next Friday or Saturday. Here's the official officialness of it all.

And now, here's some inspiration. Click below to see Brian's brilliant Blaze upload.

I don't hide the fact that I love pumpkins. Or that I love carved pumpins. And that, specifically, I'm in love with the carved pumpkins at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. I mean, my blog posts dating back to July 07 offer more than enough evidence for this.

Now, I've oft been accused of having a one-track orange-hued mind and perhaps that's the case, but, consider this: Right now I'm staring at the above image of those four iPod touch (touches?) and I am giddy, giggling like a puppy romping through a pumpkin patch. Those... things... are... COOL. Sleek, button-free, multi-gig holding music and video machines. Yum yum! Apple calls them the "funnest" iPod ever and while the grown-up wordsmith in me recoils in shock, the kid in me loves the idea of having something funner.

Want one? Yea, me too. Thing is, faithful blog readers and Blaze visitors, you have a chance to take YOUR love for the Blaze and all things pumpkin carved and turn it into an iPod touch. It's an unbeatable combination.

You've got FOUR chances to win an iPod touch when you attend Blaze, film some cool video, and post it on YouTube. The Blaze gurus are giving away an iPod EACH WEEK in October. Basically, come to Blaze, film it, edit the footage, and get it on YouTube. Though there's a prize each week, each video can only be entered once. So, if you don't win the first week, rework your work (or come to Blaze again and shoot more) and try the next week. This page has all the gory details.

As you may recall, there was a similar contest last year with one winner. You can check it out here.

And here's our video from '06, which, thanks to the ever-evolving nature of the brilliant Blaze creators, is a little dated now.

Your faithful HVBLogger was on the scene at Van Cortlandt Manor yesterday and shot this video of Dikki Ellis, king of the slack rope walkers (and a pretty good comedian/magician, too).

Yes, Dikki will be there today for those of you who still haven't made it to Animals & Acrobats.

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!

Ken Sargeant is a Croton-based videographer and HHV fan. Van Cortlandt Manor is a Croton historical site - and its staff is a big fan of Ken!

Recently he visited Historic Hudson Valley food historian Lavada Nahon as she was preparing a meal in VCM's reproduction open-hearth kitchen, capturing it on video and posting a snippet of the results on YouTube.

Van Cortlandt Manor offers limited enrollment open-hearth cooking workshops throughout the year, where you help prepare - and most importantly, consume - a meal in the style of the 18^th century. Some of the workshops feature dishes that are based on actual Van Cortlandt family recipes (or "receipts," as they used to be called). The next one is Saturday, May 17.

Click on the image to watch the video.