The Family Heirloom

Hudson Valley Lighting has always had a thing for the nautical style, and the latest additions to the Heirloom collection coming out this June joins the ship’s company. The HUD-8001 hanging pendant lighting fixtures feature a bare bulb look surrounded by a cage of aged brass, historic nickel, old bronze, or polished nickel. The switch is on the fixture, old school style. This is a great hanging fixture for New England homes and cottages, churches and parishes.  These fixtures measure 5 1/2″ wide, 12 3/4″ high, with a 5 1/2″ diameter canopy, with either a five foot or eleven foot cloth cord.

They all come with a cloth cord, LB-60-6 lamp, and you can get them with or without a wire cage. The Heirloom collection is great for schools as well, particularly wood shops and science labs. Check back later for pricing on our www.affordablelamps.com site.

HUDSON VALLEY GAZETTE
All the news that lights your life!

From the Valley of the Hudson comes something new: Picture Lights. Hudson Valley Lighting has two new lines of picture lights, the Woodbury and the Vernon series, coming out in June 2010. Finally, another company is offering picture lights besides House of Troy. I mean, competition is good, because it forces people to pick up their game and offer better products and quicker delivery dates. The Hudson Valley picture lights come in aged brass, distressed bronze, historic nickel and polished nickel.  The width of the fixtures range from 8” to 42”, with most of them utilizing T-10, 25 watt bulbs.

What I like about this forthcoming line is their sturdy, no nonsense design. The Woodbury Family has the beveled look, while the Vernon group features the canister shaped shades. All of these fixtures are supplied with eight feet of cords and inline switches, so these are plug-in fixtures, not hardwired.

Check back on our website www.affordablelamps.com later for pricing. Or call me at 1-800-MY-LAMPS.

Bruck Lighting has a new hand blown pendant offering, called the Regal.  These stylish pendant fixtures come in a variety of rich, earth-tone pastel colors including Apricot, Merlot, Brown and, of course, basic White.  These are  Energy Star compliant pendant lighting fixtures, using GU24 compact fluorescent bulbs up to 28 watts.  Or if you like, LED versions are available.  Great for kitchen island lighting, dining rooms, conference rooms, these Bruck pendants will add a Royal touch to your home or office decor, while helping you go green at the same time. So who said kings couldn’t be environmentally friendly?

Cat got your tongue?

The Crescent View Contemporary Mini Pendant Light (product page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/kic-42421ni.html) from Kichler Lighting features a new twist for mini pendant lighting. It combines the half circle shape shade delicately housed within two square brushed nickel holders. The Crescent View measures 12” wide, 6” in depth, and hangs down up to 44”, making this a long mini pendant. The Crescent View comes with sloped ceiling mounting hardware and two 60 Watt candelabra base Krypton bulbs, which I’m sure will please Clark Kent. This also proves that you can fit a semi circle in to a square hole.

Now someone tell that cat to wipe off that cheese eating grin of his, OK?

Now here’s a kicker.  The Leeds Contemporary Oval Chandelier (product page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/kic-42431-swz.html) from Kichler has eight individual single rectangular light boxes, four on each side of the fixture. These resemble single mattresses. With a name like Leeds, was this a coincidence, or done deliberately? This is a smart looking contemporary chandelier that doubles as a kitchen island light, and uses sixteen 60 watt Candelabra Base bulbs (960 watts, that is bright!). The Leeds measures 36.5″ by 21″ and has a height of up to 61″. The bronze trim makes this modern fixture more grounded. I still cannot get that mattress image out of my head. Is Kichler’s new slogan going to be our lights are so bright, they can’t be beat?

I see those billboards all over town, and frankly, that dude in the pajamas creeps me out.

So please, Kichler, post a disclaimer, for me?

If you were like most Americans on Sunday, Feb. 7th, 2010, you watched the Superbowl and the dozens of commercials that came with it. One in particular that caught my attention was the AUDI Green Police ad. This near-future, sci-fi, what-if story showed a world where there was an actual police force responsible for policing green eco-policy. The Green Cops would bust people for having the wrong light bulb, disposing of products incorrectly, or drinking out of plastic bottles. Funny? Yes. Good satire? Most definitely. Fiction?

I don’t think so.

As an avid writer, reader and fan of all thing science fiction for all of my life since age 5, I have nearly 50 years of absorbing, listening and participating in the science fiction community. I grew up in a household filled with over 2,000 science fiction novels. I attended my first convention at age 12, and I published my own sci-fi magazine STEMS at age 20. I have met most of the modern masters of the field, and I consider George Clayton Johnson, the author of Logan’s Run, to be my mentor.

So when I see an ad like the Green Police, and then come into work the next day and see the disclaimer: “California residents are unable to order this item in accordance with new CA title 20 requirements for portable lamps,” on one of our products, I get a chill down my spine. And so should you.

The fixture that has been prohibited by CA Title 20 here in California is an LED FIXTURE. The House of Troy GPLED 19-7 (product page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/hot-gpled19-7.html) uses light emitting diodes, not incandescent.

That’s about as green as you can get! Yet some bureaucrat in California has not yet approved these LED fixtures for lighting a piano.

I can hear Beethoven rolling over in his grave! This is as stupid as it gets.

And if I sell you one, and you live in California, or take it there, I can get arrested. By the Green Police! Or whatever name they are using. Life imitates art, and the future is now.

Can someone out there cover my bail, please?

***

“Alan, wake up!”

“Uh, what’s up Patrick?”

“You were sleeping. And dreaming pretty heavy apparently. Having a nightmare?”

“Yeah, about the Green Police, and the LED fixtures from House of Troy.”

“Yeah, about that. House of Troy messed up. The first list that they sent me was incomplete. The LED fixtures are approved for California under Title 20. So no worries. Call your customer and let him know he can order the lamp after all.

I will change the website and on Wednesday, all will be fine, OK?”

“Cool. Man, I had the scariest dream. Oh well, no worries.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. “Who is it?” I asked as I opened the door.

“We are looking for a fellow named Alan.”

“And you are?”

The tall fellow smiled. “Why, we are The Green Police.”