It's that time of year again when neighbourhoods start to glow with colour.

Every year once Dec. 1 hits, most people are out there putting on the Christmas lights....oops I guess I should have said Holiday lights.....if I offended some then TS, they're Christmas Lights and a Christmas Tree, I don't want anyone to call a Menorah, a Holiday Lamp or Holiday Candle Stick Holder, that would be crazy. So they're Christmas lights and that's that.

Now with the tirade out of the way.....

Everyone has seen a trend in recent years of people switching to LED lights from the traditional incandescent bulbs. This is good for the environment and good for your pocket book as these lights consume 90% less electricity and last a hell of a lot longer. Now I love the environment and while I haven't hugged a tree lately, I do not like the LED lights. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for improving technology and keeping more of the green in my pocket and in the parks but for Christmas I need to see that holiday glow that puts a sparkle in children's eyes. The LED lights for all the good they do, don't provide that radiant shine. They glow......kind of. But for the most part it looks like someone forgot to turn up the dimmer. They look faded, dark, spooky even. They lack that sparkle and that makes me get depressed every time I see a house covered in these things. There's no pop, no wow factor and without that, I just don't see the reason for putting them up in the first place. Now I may be strangled by some friends with their LED light cord for shitting on their parade and I'm almost certain this will cause me to turn blue....not from the lack of oxygen but from the blue glow of what are supposed to be white lights. On a bright note (pun intended) apparently this year there are white LED lights that actually look white....well more like a pale yellow....which is actually what incandescent lights look like.....but I haven't seen any. I only hope that's because they look like the old school lights I love which I then hope means that eventually someone will make all LEDs glow with Christmas cheer like my energy sucking and heat producing old time favourites.

Until that day comes, I will not buy LED's, cause Christmas is not about the money, it's about the spirit.

Cyber Jock