Recently in Optics and the media Category

 

This is David Millar the cyclist, but what has he got to do with optics?

 It's really nice when work throws up an unexpected opportunity. So was the case when Transitions recently invited Optician down to Calpe, Spain to see its professional cycling team in action. Transitions decided to sponsor a pro cycling team late last year a move that has the potential to put optics on a much higher plane of recognition among the public.

The Garmin Transitions cycling team is one of the best in the world  and its members compete with the likes of Lance Armstrong in races such as the Tour de France. Transitions' sponsorship will put it name in front of 2 billion people worldwide which gives an idea of cycling's appeal abroad. Read all about the team and this ambitious opitcal project in the Feb 26th issue of Optician.

  

This is the sun rising around the rock just off Calpe and the first sight that greeted me when I woke up in the morning. Roll on summer.

 

While Browsing the Spring 1998 volume of Optician I came across the above picture. The woman modelling the specs looked strangely familiar.

I wonder what on earth she's doing now?

Still on the subject of photography, even opticians practices can provide plenty of photo opportunities, as demonstrated by the pictures below.

Any interesting photos of your own practice? Please email them to alex.thomas@rbi.co.uk

Having recently enjoyed reading Portuguese author José Saramago's novel Blindness, I thought it worth a post as not only does it deal with a epidemic of ocular disorder on a grand scale but has also been made into a film that features Mark Ruffalo as a ophthalmologist.

The film version is directed by Fernando Meirelles, whose previous credits include City of God and The Constant Gardener, and also stars Julianne Moore as the only person left with sight after a wave of blindness and attendant chaos sweeps across a unspecified city.

Despite a lukewarm critical reception at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, this is surely a must-see for optical folk?

Specsavers has been pretty consistent in its ability to make TV ads that capture the public's attention.
'Should have gone to Specsavers' has become a national catch phrase while the latest Thunderbirds offering ( you can watch the video here) has been getting coverage all over the place.
This is nothing new for the Specsavers' creative team which has recieved positive responses to many of its ads.
Of course there are a few misses. The Guardian can't help mentioning one of the latest Specsavers offerings before careering off down another one of its self indulgent cul de sac ( oh sorry that's French too), the reference is somewhat perjorative.