Greetings all...It's about 9:45 on Wednesday and the ticket system is down. Of course, this decides to happen right after last year's Blaze ticket buyers were given a presale notice.

But, don't fret, Historic Hudson Valley's self-described "head nerd" tells me he's working on it. Here's what he said:

"I was syncing some fresh tunes to my iPod (Halloween music, 'course) when the Distant Early Web Warning system alerted me to a problem with the Blaze Print@Home tickets. Since we want everyone to have tickets in all their colorful glory, I paused ticket ordering while I fix the problem. A mere glitch that will soon be put aright... Please stand by."

I'll update the blog once I know this is fixed. 

Thanks for your patience everyone!

The gourds you see here are all growing at the Wallkill View Farm, Historic Hudson Valley's exclusive pumpkin provider.

Yes, the pumpkins pictured are slightly different sizes. No, it's not a progression of the same pumpkin (I don't think), but it does show a nice transition from small and yellow and onion-like to big and yellow and melon-like to big, orange, and ready for carving.

Want to reminiscence? Click here for the earlier posts when these guys were mere seedlings.

Spiders have played a role every year in Blaze, and this year will be no different. Well, actually, it sounds like it will be quite a bit different. Creative Director Michael Natiello is planning a big boost in the spider department by changing the scope, placement, and visual impact of Blaze's popular spider web installation.

"The spider web this year will be strung between two apple trees in the orchard and will be up to 30 feet in diameter at some points," Natiello told the Blaze Blog today.

Thus, the web will be more "upright" than in years past, which should allow visitors to get a better overall view, without the need for a ladder or stilts.

The main body of the web, the foundation of which is pictured here, is about 20 feet wide. From there, "strings" of web will radiate out and attach to the trees.

"Baby spiders will appear to be crawling off the web and towards the visitor while mother spider watches from a distance," said Natiello.

Love the concept. Can't wait to see it executed.

Somebody just slipped the Blaze Blog a preliminary sketch of what will be the new welcoming tent for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Looks to me like the Powers o' Blaze have more than doubled the size of it, to 40 feet by 120 feet.

The text in the image is hard to read at Web size but I'll walk you through it starting with the light blue area at the top left. That's the membership desk, where HHV Members can take care of all things Member-related and visitors with a joiner-type personality can sign up on the spot.

I'm particularly excited about the orange station next door, which is billed as the carving station (pumpkins, not turkeys and roast beef, as far as I know). Blaze artists will be carving pumpkins throughout the night, which will then be available for purchasing (or just oohing and ahhing over) at the Blaze Shop. I imagine, unless they are the temperamental artist type, that you could also use the opportunity to ask them for carving tips. This is a totally new feature this year.

From there, we have the satellite merch shop...last year it was dubbed Shop ‘n Glow because it carried a lot of glow-in-the-dark jewelry...de rigueur Blaze wear, particularly for the younger set.

Next, in green, is the area for Blaze's generous sponsors. Also, the blue area at the bottom will be taken up by sponsor WHUD 100.7, which will be broadcasting live from the event on many evenings.

Last but not least, the rest of the space on the bottom is devoted to Café Blaze and its corresponding seating area. The café is again being run by Geordanes of Irvington. Man do they make a mean cuppa hot cocoa...

Also, as I noted before, the tent will have pumpkin chandeliers. Judging by your comments below, the concept is a hit. I need to give appropriate credit to Tom Hunt, an interpreter at Van Cortlandt Manor who came up with the idea. More on that to follow...