Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley: December Doings in Town…

Well, another Christmas Day has come and gone. Everyone here at Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley hopes that all of you who celebrate had a joyous and happy holiday. While the excitement of this big day is over, the holiday spirit is still alive. With that in mind (and if you have the energy to get out and about this weekend) prepare yourself for several events that are going on in Berkeley.

If you are reading this blog early enough and you want to treat yourself to a fun time, be at Marsh Berkeley Arts Center at 2:00 this afternoon for “Fool La La.” What is “Fool La La,” aside from the obvious play on the phrase “Fa La La”? Well, were you aware that the Bay Area had its own resident clown? He goes by the name of Unique Derique, and he combines dance and physical comedy that bring performance art to a whole new level. (That’s why part of his name is “Unique.”) In a neighboring city, a reporter for “The San Francisco Chronicle” claimed: “Unique will be back. Remember the name.” We will remember him, particularly because of…uh (what’s the word?)…oh yes, unique frames on his costume eyeglasses. If interested, but you can’t get to see this show today, no worries. Unique will be performing every day (at 2:00) until January 4^th. Marsh Berkeley Arts Center is located at 2120 Allston Way. Ticket prices range from $15 to $20 and reservations can be made by calling 415-282-3055 or online by clicking here.

Are you looking to take a break from listening to Christmas carols, and want to tune into a different sound? Or, do you have a friend or family member who is into Bluegrass music? (If the answer is “yes,” here’s a chance to give them a belated Christmas present.) Visit the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse at 2020 Addison Street tomorrow night at 8:00 for the “David Grisman Bluegrass Experience.” Having had the experience of jamming with names that include Jerry Garcia and James Taylor, Mr. Grisman leads his own band, which includes Keith Little (banjo), Jim Nunally (guitar), Chad Manning (fiddle) and Sam Grisman (bass). Together, these musicians perform a rousing and well-rounded repertoire of tunes. Call 510-644-2020 to reserve tickets ($36 or $38) or make an online order here, and deck your years with sounds of Bluegrass.

Sunday’s selected event is will appeal to anyone who is into art and/or plants. Many times in our blog, we have mentioned Berkeley University. This Sunday, art and botany go hand-in-hand at an exhibit at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, titled “Following in Bartrams’ Footsteps.” (John Bartram, and son William, were eighteenth century botanists and naturalists with a special talent for drawing the plants they studied and discovered.) On display will be 44 original works of art that depict a variety of flowers and plants that were created in a tradition similar to how the Bartrams conveyed their impressions. Click here for a video preview of this exhibit. (Oh, just an FYI…the Paul Licht in this video is NOT the same Paul Licht who runs Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley. Small world, though, isn’t it?) Admission to this all-day event is $10.00, and can be purchased by calling 510-643-2755. End the year of 2014 on an eclectic note, and visit UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley at 200 Centennial Drive this Sunday.

We hope that one or more of these happenings will appeal to you as we end one more holiday season, and move onto the New Year.  For any other ideas of things to do, please click here. A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year to you! (Pssst…consider this a reminder, or a call-to-action New Year’s resolution, but don’t forget to schedule your eye exam!)

Thanks for reading…enjoy the weekend…and keep your sites on healthy vision.

Give the Gift of Healthy Vision

It’s that time of year (again) when lists of the best and the worst holiday gifts appear. Check out these funny selections of questionable gift choices from The Telegraph: Worst Christmas Gifts, as well as The Best Stocking Stuffers for Everyone on Your Holiday Gift List, from Vogue. While many may dread a gift box full of tube socks (and may be hoping for something a bit flashier), the true spirit of gift-giving is about showing how we care for one another.

Some gift choices are risky, not only in terms of whether or not they’ll be well-received, but some can pose a risk to eye safety (such as toys, as we discussed here on the blog recently). Another risk to eye health is neglect. It is critical that everyone schedule a regular eye exam.

Have you ever considered giving the gift of healthy vision?

Why not give gift cards for Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley to family and friends? These gift cards can be applied to anything…frames, contact lenses, you name. The cards would be particularly beneficial to anyone you know who tends to put off going the eye doctor!

And, why not give a gift to yourself? Do you have any funds left in your Flex Dollars account for this year? If so, better get cracking and USE them! There is approximately a week and a half left to this year, and if you don’t use your Flex Dollars, they are going to evaporate.

So…treat yourself and start the New Year with a fabulous new pair of designer frames from our extensive collection with eyewear to complement your signature fashion style. And share peace of mind when you gift a Worry-Free Warranty!

Why is an eye exam so important? As the National Eye Institute (NEI) explains, “You might think your vision is fine or that your eyes are healthy, but visiting your eye care professional for a comprehensive dilated eye exam is the only way to really be sure. When it comes to common vision problems, some people don’t realize they could see better with glasses or contact lenses.”

Another important factor to take into account is the opportunity to discover health-related conditions, such as diabetic eye disease, glaucoma and macular degeneration. Warning signs of these conditions may not be perceptible to you, but can be detected by an eye care professional.

And don’t forget… as you enjoy this fun time of year, take care of your eyes by wearing eye protection if you should go skiing or snowboarding. Sunglasses are also important in winter as well as summer, because your eyes need the UV protection.

We hope everyone enjoys a happy and healthy holiday season!

Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley Claims: “’Tis the Time for Spectacles of the Season!”

Constitution Square is bustling with holiday spirit! With the season in full swing, an interesting realization occurred to the staff at Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley. Let us first suggest…when you watch one of your favorite holiday specials or movies this year, take note of characters who wear eyewear.

Ever since we featured a blog topic earlier in the year that covered Oscar-nominated movies and stars who sported spectacles of some kind or another, it has become a reflex (or, as said before, an occupational preoccupation) for us to sit up and take notice of anyone in popular culture that sports this vision accessory.

We begin with an obvious choice: Santa Claus. In the 1994 remake of “Miracle on 34^th Street,” the late great Sir Richard Attenborough donned a pair of very distinctive and classical-looking specs for his performance as St. Nick. Note how these frames suggest an old-fashioned, timeless look, to suggest the agelessness of Santa Claus.

While we’re discussing Santa, have you seen the Rankin-Bass special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” this year? He’s not as famous as Rudolph, Shermy or Yukon Cornelius, but we are always glad to see this eyeglasses-wearing representative of the Elf community.

Now, we leave the North Pole and travel to Hohman, Indiana to reacquaint ourselves with the Parker family. In the never-failing-to-entertain “A Christmas Story,” little Ralphie Parker (he of the oversized owl-like tortoise-shell frames) is obsessed with getting a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle, in spite of never-ending warnings of “you’ll shoot your eye out.”

What you’ve seen here is but a sample of pop culture characters that are (for lack of better phrasing) characterized by eyeglasses. We want to finish on a cautionary note about eyewear, and the importance of keeping your prescription up-to-date. 

By now, you must have caught at least a scene or two of Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” set at Christmas time in Bedford Falls (a place not unlike Hohman). Two characters, Henry F. Potter and Uncle Billy cross paths. Potter is a vicious, selfish old man who makes Scrooge look like a choirboy, and Uncle Billy is well-meaning but bumbling. 

As eye care professionals, we sometimes wondered if the problems of these two could have been because they never upgraded their prescriptions. Think about it! If Potter got new spectacles, he would have had better vision and might not have been in a foul mood all the time, and if Uncle Billy had tied another string around his finger to remind him to go to the eye doctor, he might have seen clearer and been more on the ball. (But then…there would be no movie.)

Is there a film or TV special that features some eye-catching eyewear that’s not listed here? Write and let us know!

Hope the season is treating you well, and that all of your holiday shopping and preparations are going smoothly.

Thanks for reading…and keep your sites on healthy vision.

Put Eye Safety at the Top of Your Holiday Toy Shopping List

December is “Safe Toys and Gifts Month” and a time when holiday shoppers are looking for the perfect gifts for the children on their list. In a review of all eye injuries suffered by patients who visited the ER from 2002-2010 that was published in the Rhode Island Medical Journal, between 7 and 12 percent of these injuries in children were toy-related.

For children ages 0-4 years old, 11.3% of eye injuries were toy-related. For children ages 5-9, the rate was 11.4%, and for children ages 10-14 the number dropped to 7.4% (although rate of eye injury from sports-related products for this age range jumped to 40.8%).

U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) has just released its annual report on dangerous toys, Trouble in Toyland 2014, which provides warnings of toys that can break and become choking hazards. These broken pieces can also become dangers for children’s eyes as well.

Prevent Blindness® offers tips on choosing safe toys for children. Avoid toys with projectiles (like slingshots). They also note that seemingly safe toys like water guns can be dangerous. They add: “BB guns should not even be considered toys.” Any toy with sharp edges or points can pose a risk, and toys that are not durable or which can break and create sharp edges should be avoided.

With the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (which has topped the box office), the popularity of toy bows and arrows has surged, leading in turn to strong and clear safety warnings. The American Academy of Ophthalmology warns shoppers to avoid these types of toys, as they can cause traumatic eye injury (and even blindness).

So what should we look for when shopping for kids? Make sure the toy is designated as being safe with the letters “ASTM.” This signifies that the toy meets national safety standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Look for a label on laser toys that proves that the product meets the Code of Federal Regulations, including power limits.

Give children shatterproof eyewear when playing with sports equipment and ensure they’re supervised. Keep toys for older children out of the hands of little ones.

Check the “US Consumer Product Safety Commission” site for recalls related to eye injuries and other safety issues. The American Academy of Ophthalmology also offers a video guide to safe toy buying. (Click HERE to watch.)

If you have questions about your family’s eye health and toy safety, consult an eye care professional. Everyone here at Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley wishes you a healthy holiday season, and happy and safe shopping!

Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley: Vision Exercises

Hello, readers of the Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley blog, and happy post-Thanksgiving day greetings to you. We hope yesterday was a bright and festive (not to mention filling) occasion for all. Since you have taken the time to read today’s blog, you are bypassing Black Friday free-for-alls. Yes, as we look out our window on Shattuck Avenue, we see chaos in Constitution Square. So, read on…

Two years ago, we ran a blog that informed people of “eye exercise.” Well, we are today offering a warning about certain vision exercises. Yes, they are important, but as with everything else under the sun, some exercises work…and others don’t. It all depends on who you consult and where you look (no pun intended) for them.

To call up a cliché, “the best things in life are free,” and this is very true when it comes to giving your vision some TLC. What’s wonderful about exercises like the “20/20/20” (after 20 minutes of looking at the computer screen, look away at something 20 feet away, and for 20 seconds), is that they do not cost you anything. Now…as far as paying money for vision improvement – proceed with caution!

We urge you to be wary and take care not to fall for any kind of advertisements that promise you will “never have to wear eyeglasses (or contact lenses) – again!” One such “cure” was the “See Clearly Method,” founded by the American Vision Institute, which, we should point out, was comprised of four (count ‘em – four) members (two optometrists, one psychologist and one nuclear chemist – yes, a nuclear chemist). For those who were willing to pay the princely sum of $350, this “kit” offered techniques (and we are using the word “techniques” VERY loosely) such as “Tromboning,” “Palming,” and “Light Therapy,” among others that were designed to help build up and strengthen vision. The good news is that the “See Clearly Method” received a court order in 2006 to be removed from the market. The bad news is that these same four horsemen of the optical apocalypse (the American Vision Institute) launched a website that promoted the “Power Vision Program,” which claims to incorporate the most effective techniques of the “See Clearly Method.” The “Power Vision Program” costs $35 a pop. Yet…more potential good news is that when we did a web search for this product, we only came up with articles that debated (if not downright debunked) the American Vision Institute.

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to eyesight is that the physical shape of the eyes is a determining factor of possible vision-related problems. For instance, if a person’s eyeball is too “short,” they suffer from farsightedness, and conversely, if the eyeballs are too “long,” nearsightedness is the issue. And, studies from legitimate scientific journals have concluded that exercising the eyes will not change their shape. As a result, the conditions of farsightedness and nearsightedness are, alas, ones that only the right prescription of eyewear can help. For more information, check out this article by Rob Murphy of “All About Vision.”

True vision therapy that is approved and medically supervised can in fact benefit (but not cure) eye-related issues. If you feel that you would benefit from a legitimate (note the italics) vision therapy program, the first thing to do is schedule a consultation with an optometrist. How to care for (and, if possible, improve) your vision is definitely something for the professionals to handle. If you find your vision cannot be improved, you can still help prevent it from becoming weaker.

Thanks for reading…and keep your sites on healthy vision.

Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley: Thanksgiving Food for Thought (and Vision)

One week from today, the majority of the American public will be relaxing from the Thanksgiving feast from the day before (or scrambling around in a Black Friday shopping frenzy). With that in mind, Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley would like to highlight some vision-friendly foods that many of you will be enjoying this coming Thursday. You may never look at them the same way again. (And when we say “look” we mean it!)

We begin with the most obvious edible item, carrots. This favorite of rabbits everywhere is loaded with beta-carotene (i.e., vitamin A) that is good for vision. So please make sure you get at least a small helping of carrots on your plate. And…guess what? Beta-carotene is in a few other Thanksgiving staples, such as sweet potatoes and pumpkins. (No, this is NOT an excuse to have an extra slice or two of pumpkin pie.) Don’t be misled; you will not miraculously develop 20/20 vision by taking in a lot of beta carotene, but just keep in mind that these vitamin A foods can at least be a help to your eyesight. (Interesting coincidence that these foods are all orange, isn’t it?)

Now we move onto the greens. If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, you may want to strongly consider including collard greens, broccoli, and/or asparagus to the menu. All of these include lutein and zeaxanthin. (We know…those are strange-sounding names that you may not be able to pronounce, but trust us…they’re good for your eyes, as both can reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataract.) If you care to know more about lutein and zeaxanthin, click here. In any event, please have one or more of these dark leafy green veggies on your dinner table this Thursday.

And now, we come to the pièce de résistance for many palettes on Thanksgiving – the turkey. Yes, dear readers, there is zinc and vitamin B in this main course, which (like the leafy green vegetables mentioned above) are effective agents in preventing cataract. So…this very tasty dish that dates back to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock has been benefiting the eyesight of many for several centuries. (We wonder why this fact was never pointed out in history books about the first Thanksgiving.)

Before we sign off, we’d like to acknowledge an article from MDHIL Networks, which goes into detail about some more eye-healthy foods. Thanks also to Chef Kate McAloon, for a whole list of vision-enriching eats. (She even has a recipe for Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup, which you can find here. Think of it…two foods with beta-carotene combined in one soup! )

We hope that you have enjoyed (and learned from) this week’s writing of the connection between Thanksgiving dishes and their contribution to eye health. As you enjoy your meal this Thursday, say a silent ‘thanks’ for your vision.

Thanks for reading…have a great Thanksgiving…and keep your sites on healthy vision. 

Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley: Know About November’s Events?

Happy mid-November to you all! With Thanksgiving a couple of weeks away, and the starting momentum of the holiday season, we at Site for Sore Eyes Berkeley felt this would be the best week to highlight some events around town. So before you begin those pre-Thanksgiving chores of shopping, preparing, cooking (and eating), here are several choices for some weekend leisure.

Tonight’s event more or less speaks for itself (or herself, rather) – Mary Poppins. Yes, that “practically perfect in every way” governess has glided down to 2460 College Avenue (home to the Berkeley Playhouse) in a live, singing and dancing musical production. Showtime is at 7:00 pm, and tickets can be purchased by clicking here, or by calling the theatre box office at 510.845.8542 (ext. 351). (Ticket prices range from as low as $17.00 to as high as $60.00, something to keep in mind in case you wanted to bring the family.) If any of you love the books written by P. L. Travers or are a Disney aficionado – consider the holiday season as having started!  (Mary Poppins will be visiting here until December 7.)

We go from entertainment to evolution for tomorrow’s event, which takes place at The Bone Room: A Natural History Store, where you will learn about what makes up the formation of a society. And the term society is used loosely here, for it can refer to wolves in a pack, or a group of people in a particular religious, political, or social group. It seems that certain chemicals in the brains all mammals (i.e., us humans as well) can actually help determine how different species gather together, bond, reject, and select who goes where in a hierarchy. Sound interesting? Then be at 1573 Solano Avenue tomorrow at 7:00 pm to hear Loretta Breuning, Ph.D. give an in-depth discussion of “The Nature of Hierarchy.” Call 510.526.5252 for further information. (Oh…this event is free.)

For Sunday, we offer a combination of entertainment, science, philosophy and mysticism. Not possible to group all of these into one event, you say? Guess again. At 4:00 pm, the First Congregational Church, located at 2345 Channing Way, will host “Music of the Spheres,” featuring the University of California Alumni Chorus in a musical homage to the wonder of the universe. Accompanying the chorus, conducted by Dr. Mark Sumner, will be pianist William Garcia Ganz, and guest artists Perfect Fifth. The repertoire for Sunday’s concert includes Benjamin Britten’s “Hymn to St. Cecilia” and Ross Lee Finney’s “Spherical Madrigals.” Ticket prices are $20.00 (general admission), $15.00 (seniors and students) and $6.00 (UC students), and can be reserved by calling (510) 642-3880. Give this a try, and you’ll more than likely come away with a greater appreciation of this world – and worlds beyond.

Yet another eclectic mix of events, yes? But then, as this is Berkeley, would you expect anything less? Should you wish to hear “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” find out more about how the mind works, or get a (literally) universal perceptive by way of music, enjoy! For other options of what to do this weekend, click here. But remember…whatever you do, if your eyesight requires the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses please make sure they are at their optimal effectiveness. IF you want to make sure your eyewear is in tip-top shape, schedule an appointment to find out.

Thanks for reading…enjoy the weekend…and keep your sites on healthy vision.