If you’ve been a long-suffering light bulb environmentalist, enduring the ugliness of your pig-tail-shaped fluorescent bulbs in order to save Mother Earth, you’re going to be happy to see what’s new in eco-bulb design. The Plumen light bulb, heretofore available only in Europe and now made available in These United States, adds pizzazz to your high moral standards. It’s amazing how a simple style change turns something ugly into a fashionable feature. [click to continue…]
Lighting
I’m a sucker for period pieces. Jane Austen films? I own them all. Mad Men? I’m obsessed. Happy Days? Aaayyyyy. (That’s my Fonze impression.) It should therefore be no surprise that I’m all over HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, a show set in Atlantic City during the prohibition era. It’s a semi-fictionalized glance into the world of the speakeasy, “classic” mobsters, and flapper dresses. The second season has recently started and we’re again treated to the show’s most enticing eye candy of all: Steve Buscemi sets decorated to exacting detail with the look of the time – the transitional period between art nouveau and art deco. If you oggle the fixtures during the show and ask yourself, “why don’t they make beautiful things like that anymore?” I’ve got a website you’re going to love. [click to continue…]
The extent of my experience with lighting pretty much ends at an uncanny knack for getting electrocuted. Eight times and counting, folks. At this point, I’m just waiting for the big one. Maybe I’ll be able to speak Italian when I regain consciousness. (Or, does that only happen after surviving a lightning strike?) This is probably why Pottery Barn recommends hiring a professional electrician to hard wire their Mayfair Sconce. [click to continue…]
At first glance, the Striker Magnetic LED Light-Mine looks like something out of a Nintendo Super Mario World game. It’s cute, colorful and really itty-bitty – and for some reason, I imagine Mario or Luigi tossing it at one of those evil mushrooms.
But despite appearances, it’s a mighty little light and incredibly handy to have with you when you’re working in dark places.
At this year’s National Hardware Show, one unexpected surprise was running into Joby, makers of the handy little Gorillapod flexible tripods used for everything from point-and-shoot cams, to camcorders, to iphones (with their Gorillamobile product line). I’ve used a Gorillapod enthusiastically for quite some time, so I was happy to see them at NHS showcasing the Gorillatorch. For those of you that just finished up watching Lost, you might be thinking this is an actual torch. Lost episodes made use of so many torches I kept mistaking certain scenes for the Olympic opening ceremonies. Anyway, to clarify for Lost fans, Joby wisely nixed the open-flame option and decided to go with the more conventional battery operated light for the Gorillatorch. But the battery is about the only thing that is conventional about the Gorillatorch. [click to continue…]
