“Parasite”. I tried watching the movie this afternoon, and quite frankly, I could not finish it because I no longer wanted to waste my time. As a student of film I saw nothing ground breaking cinematically about it. There was nothing breathtaking about it, not the editing, not the cinematography, not even the story! There was nothing beautiful nor interesting about it. I can only imagine that the only reason why it won an Oscar was because no one else made anything better??? I thought my daughter’s favorite movie, Frozen II, was better than Parasite. Or perhaps it was the title of the film Parasite, given that we are dealing with a virus this year???

I have no idea why this film won an Oscar. I could not even finish watching it. It just looked like a typical Korean downer movie. All Korean movies are just so serious and have a little bit of sick scariness to it. Maybe that’s why it won? I have no clue. I could not finish it. What a waste of money to rent it.

Then onto Black Pink, the K-pop girl group – not sure why that broke the Guiness world record either. Their act looks like a slightly more sophisticated version of what I used to see when I was a teenager…but not much has changed really. Nothing really unique either about it.??? Maybe I am just not hip enough. lol.

But it is interesting that Korean pop culture is really getting popular. Although from what I see, not exactly groundbreaking work, maybe just because of a lack of anything better. Maybe someone can please clue me in.

I thought Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was a much better, much more well-made movie. Cinematically, technically, artistically, set design, costume design, lighting, and story-wise Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was just so much better than Parasite.

The creative juices are flowing in Korea.  Korean pop culture seems to have found global popularity and is taking the global spotlight. Korean film Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars this year. I have yet to see the movie, but it sounds interesting.

Black Pink, a Korean pop-music group.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/07/04/2020070400417.html

The music video by Black Pink for “How You Like That” attracted 86.3 million views on YouTube on the first day of its release, setting a Guinness Record for the most-viewed video within 24 hours.

I do not think you would find these in a CHOP zone. It is capitalism, the invisible hand, and the free markets that make these fragrant beauties available to the market to purchase for private use and enjoyment.

I am thankful to be enjoying these today. My life is still many times better than it was for my parents. I remember the stories my mother told us when she was a young girl living through the Korean War when the foreigners bombed Korea to oblivion. She had to hide in underground holes to avoid the planes that came with bombs. There was barely any food. Let us not go back to those times, but move forward with abundance, freedom, and the right to work to help others as our abilities allow without undue burden. Here I am, sitting in the sun enjoying these. Thankful and blessed. Happy 4th.

Vitamin D is an important component in the prevention and treatment of influenza23 and upper respiratory tract infections.24 While vitamin D does not appear to have a direct effect on the virus itself, it strengthens immune function, thus allowing the host body to combat the virus more effectively.25
As detailed in “Vitamin D Prevents Infections,” research shows high-dose vitamin D supplementation lowers the risk of respiratory illnesses and lung infections in the elderly by 40%. As noted by an author of that study, “Vitamin D can improve the immune system’s ability to fight infections because it bolsters the first line of defense of the immune system.”
As mentioned earlier, vitamin D also suppresses inflammatory processes and inhibits excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines that give rise to a cytokine storm.26 Taken together, this might make vitamin D quite useful against COVID-19, because while robust immune function is required for your body to combat the virus, an overactivated immune system is also responsible for the cytokine storm we see in COVID-19 infection that can lead to death.
Vitamin D upregulates production of human cathelicidin, LL-37, which has antimicrobial and antiendotoxin activities.27
Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to protect against acute respiratory infections.28 Daily or weekly supplementation (opposed to infrequent bolus doses) of vitamin D had the greatest protective effect in those with the lowest vitamin D levels.29
In one study,30 those with severe vitamin D deficiency who took a daily or weekly supplement cut their respiratory infection risk in half, whereas the acute administration of high bolus doses of vitamin D had no significant impact on infection risk.
Data analysis31 by GrassrootsHealth shows people with a vitamin D level of at least 40 ng/mL reduced their risk of colds by 15% and flu by 41%, compared to those with a level below 20 ng/mL.

In a study34 that looked at data from 780 COVID-19 patients in Indonesia, those with a vitamin D level between 20 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL had a sevenfold higher risk of death than those with a level above 30 ng/mL. Having a level below 20 ng/mL was associated with a 12 times higher risk of death.
Research35,36 posted on the preprint server MedRxiv June 10, 2020, reports a combination of vitamin D3, B12 and magnesium inhibited the progression of COVID-19 in patients over the age of 50, resulting in “a significant reduction in proportion of patients with clinical deterioration requiring oxygen support and/or intensive care support.”
“The Role of Vitamin D in the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Mortality”37 — which looked at the average vitamin D levels and the number of COVID-19 cases and death rates in 20 European countries — found lower vitamin D levels correlated with higher caseloads and mortality. The authors concluded, “We believe that we can advise vitamin D supplementation to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection.”
Northwestern University researchers report finding an inverse relationship between vitamin D and CRP, a marker for inflammation. Those with higher CRP had lower vitamin D and vice versa. According to the authors:38
“COVID-19 patient-level data shows a notable OR of 3.4 … for high CRP in severe COVID-19 patients.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/07/04/coronavirus-prevention-vitamin-d.aspx