Now U See It, Now U Don't!

I will be in Beijing for the world magic Olympics called FISM from 26-31 July 2009.

Magic is, essentially, the performance of illusions. These illusions range from Close-up Magic to Grand Illusions to Mind Magic. The magician is an actor playing the part of a person with extraordinary powers.

There is a belief that magic is about 'the hand is quicker than the eye'. It is not necessarily true; that is an illusion. The blink of an eye is, very fast; about a fraction of a second. By using scientific and psychological principles, the magician attracts and distracts the senses of the audience. This influence over the audience is called misdirection, which is not an accurate description of the psychological ploys utilised. Timing and misdirection are the common principles that magicians use, to create the illusion of miracles.

Sleight of hand employs 'invisible moves' which are methods for creating these miracles. Thus, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) - hopefully.

3 Boxes of Vision-Care

With much anticipation, they have arrived!

Early this afternoon, I collected three boxes of sunglasses and spectacle frames. I may have missed the solar eclipse, however I did not miss this focused opportunity. The sunglasses gave me a sense of nostalgia, reminding me of Tom Cruise in Top Gun, wearing his Ray-Bans. Today's celebrities have also promoted and promulgated retro-fashion, continuing to usher in the rites of passage of fashion. Fish-eye glasses are already making a comeback.

Old may be new. Remember how loyal consumers preferred Classic Coke to New Coke. In marketing, what goes around comes around - as retro-fashion. Certainly, creative marketing and innovative applications account for why some things stay the way they should.

According to Dr Lau Kong Cheen of Temporal Branding, 'That is why we settle comfortably at coffee shops - Ya Kun, or Killiney Road kopi tiams. Nostalgia is in!'

We are deeply grateful for the spirit of generosity of Agnes Kam for these gifts. I strongly believe that it will benefit many people. Do involve yourself by sharing with us, whom would benefit from these eye-care products.

Let us know how you, too, may like to help. Come on board!

Framing the Picture

Spectacles not only provide vision, but also frame the face making it more attractive.

In some ways, this cosmetic is merely an illusion, but a useful one, nonetheless. If you have dark, thick frames, it may give the wearer the illusion of thicker eye-brows. Spectacle frames can also enhance or reduce the size of one's eyes. They can make you look more studious, or more studied. You can appear innocent, learned or serious.

Reframing, in the language of psycholinguistics, is about changing the perception of things by altering the language structure. Whoever said that 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me' never had a performance appraisal in his/her life. The printed word can hurt; so do grades and rankings. In journalism, 'the pen IS mightier than the sword'.

By reframing, we can transform our language patterns to fit our needs. For example, we can reframe the word 'manager' into the following: guide, mentor, supervisor, colleague, process expert, and mature worker.

What do you do from Mondays to Fridays? Are you: in a job, at work, in your profession, or in a career?

Those who see into the future may be described as long-sighted, visionary, predictive, systems thinkers, or possessing foresight.

In these examples, we can appreciate to some extent, that language frames our experience. How we describe our experiences can either excite us to do more of it, or less of it. If we learn from each experience, we may then review our failures and shortcomings as results, outcomes and points of reference. Rest assured, it is not about lying to oneself but exploring alternative meanings to what may be mundane and unexciting.

Get a frame on your life!

What Do You See?

Do you see the world as half-full, or half-empty?

The world may be, simply, be divided into two main groups of personalities: optimists, and pessimists. Which are you? Although, quantitatively, the volume of fluid in a drinking-glass is the same how did we arrive at that 'measure'? Is the glass full, and filled? Or, is it short of content? Interestingly, beverages can be contained in tall- or short-glasses.

Do you view the world as having abundant opportunities, or scarcity? Do you think you have enough, or are you continually pursuing richness? When does the pursuing stop?

What do you thirst for? What drives your passion? What are you most motivated about?

Do you see the world in black and white? Do you constantly manage the various shades of grey? Is your world bright, illuminated and colourful?

The Lens Men and The Eye Site Care-a-Van

It was sheer coincidence when I found out this evening that my optician’s company practises corporate social responsibility of a relevant kind. The Lens Men and The Eye Site launched in late-2008 Singapore's first and only mobile eye screening clinic. Called Eye Care-a-Van, the vehicle is innovatively fitted with an auto-refractor, lens-meter, eye chart projector, ophthalmological equipment and other tools. These tools facilitate the comprehensive examination of ocular health, refraction, V/A reading and chart reading anywhere on the island in a professional and comfortable setting. Their first foray served 157 elderly and needy residents on October 5, 2008.

Founded on a philosophy of "Not just eye care - we care" The Lens Men has a long tradition of giving back to the community since it opened for business in 1983. Conducting free eye screenings for about 1,000 underprivileged Singaporeans a year, the group of optical service companies donates more than 500 prescription spectacles annually to those who need vision correction but cannot afford it on their own. With the Eye Care-a-Van, they hope to increase the number of Singaporeans we help by at least 30 percent, especially those who are immobile and have difficulty commuting.

The Lens Men and Eye Site can be contacted if you would like to schedule an eye screening for a needy patient or for your community service organisation, nursing home, hospital, school or other charity.

The 80SPF Initiative

A few weeks ago, one of my students offered me about 80 out-dated (in the fashion sense) spectacle frames to start a charity fund. The cache of eye ornaments came from her brother who used to own an optical shop. I am thankful for their gesture.

Having been inspired by Kyle Macdonald's one-year challenge/adventure of trading up a single, red paperclip into a whole house after 14 trades, I was keen to explore my creativity and active networking skills.

This blog, called 80SPF is a play on acronyms. SPF refers to Sun Protection Factor, and this number measures the relative exposure time to sunlight before your skin burns under ultraviolet radiation. It normally takes 20 minutes before your skin begins the BBQ process without protection. 2 SPF means you can last about 20X2, or 40 minutes before you burn. 80SPF also means '80 SPectacle Frames'.

To start the (eye)ball rolling, and stir initial interests here's my proposition: What can we do to raise funds to support a cause of our choice? It can be a national cause or charity, or even an international/global initiative. As long as we focus our vision of being charitable to a Cause, we can collaborate and cooperate our efforts into fruition. We will consolidate our efforts through this blog.

Pictures of the frames will follow soon.

What shall we do with a box of 80 spectacle frames?