Sean Ongley

Author: Sean Ongley

  • Somos Artesina – an Artist Profile

    Somos Artesina – an Artist Profile

    Watch my first short documentary since 2017. Entitled Somos Artesina because I think it speaks directly to the content including their message. They are a Colombian-American couple and homeowners in Philadelphia. Together they call their brand Grupo ArtesinA. They tell their own story and it speaks for itself in six minutes.

    Often, when an English speaking subject has imperfections or goes against a strong accent, the filmmakers will subtitle in English. I decided that if I was able to understand them enough to do the interview, then you would understand them, and the people who really needed subtitles were the spanish speakers.

    This also gave them the opportunity to write their own subtitles to better articulate what they were saying. Because I am a spanish student, I was able to comprehend them and even edit a little bit.

    The production was straightforward. First, I met them at home to capture their studio and conduct an interview. Then I captured scenes at Open Kitchen Sculpture Garden, both at a potluck and at their own garden brunch benefit for ProAnimal Sanctuary in Ecuador.

    I also made a music video with the B-Roll. I wanted it to be gritty like those old music videos I grew up on. Because it’s getting harder to find free Creative Commons music, I am producing my own music for my video projects currently. That strategy will find its limit when I do larger projects, but I know musicians and it will be good to work directly in my network. That is what THRU is all about.

    This is my first THRU project since shutting down the magazine and moving to Philadelphia in 2018. In 2017, I managed to land one commissioned project (that means it paid) and completed some really good work that ran in rotation at Open Signal television channels across the Portland metro region.

    I’m basically picking up where I left off, hoping to lift off. Your support is much appreciated at the value for value page.

  • “Somos Cumbia”

    “Somos Cumbia”

    “Somos Cumbia” is an original song for the Somos Artesina short documentary.

    This is one of the easiest, free flowing pieces of music that I have ever composed. I called it “Somos Cumbia,” because it is for a short documentary called Somos Artesina, which I also produced.

    The film is about a Colombian couple in Philadelphia called ArtesinA. Cumbia is a Colombian music form influenced from immigrants the world over and has extended to every corner of the world. The title translates to, “We are cumbia,” because we all have access and the right to this musical form. It is a lot like jazz in that way.

    ArtesinA is an art project and a startup brand. Learn about them by watching the film here.

    Also, I made a music video using b-roll film.

    Music video for “Somos Cumbia.”

    All of this is my comeback to THRU Media. That was the magazine that I launched in 2016, which you can learn about here. The magazine is still dead, but the media channels are reviving slowly.

    As for this song, I had completed editing and mastering, but I needed to add in/out music. I am not the type to run a music bed throughout. It’s lame, in my opinion, however, given my limitations in terms of licensing music, I cannot really do it anyway.

    There used to be the Free Music Archive, but that was bought from the non-profit radio station WFMU by a for-profit company called Tribe of Noise. I don’t know how that is legal.

    The real problem is that none of that music is free anymore. Free to listen, sure, but who cares? Now you have to pay substantially to license the music for your short, no budget film.

    That is why I decided to produce my own music for the picture. I heard the cumbia beat in my head, it’s a standard form, so that was easy. I laid that down first, followed by bass, and then the accordion. The synth track capped it. It all flowed so naturally.

    I was also very sad when I wrote this. I was powering through some real disappointments, some rejection. It has that sad sound, but also happy. I’m just happy to channel my issues through work, I love music more than anything, so it always improves my vibe.

    That’s the song and the story behind it. Thanks for listening.

  • The Middle Way with Ross Farrier

    The Middle Way with Ross Farrier

    The Not-a-Podcast Show with Ross Farrier

    On this Not-a-Podcast Show I wanted to catch up with Ross Farrier, a vegan, Buddhist, Portland lefty, gay man, and covid vaccine denier, living in Jerome, Arizona. We knew each other in Portland, going back to at least 2006.

    His identity is fluid, it was interesting to discuss the ways that he went to extremes to come back to the middle way. He was sober, but realized he wasn’t actually an addict, so sobriety wasn’t necessary. He is a vegan, but it’s more about all natural foods than anti-meat eating. His non-oil diet is interesting.

    It is good to go through a journey with others, with respect to their lifestyle choices in this new world in which all things are possible, despite the appearance of so many limiting economic and social beliefs coming from within and without. The retreat to country is smart to me and something I am working toward while enjoying the fruits of city living now.

  • Sex Magic with Marcus and Forest Mommy

    Sex Magic with Marcus and Forest Mommy

    Episode 25 of The-Not-a-Podcast Show is my first anniversary show, and it features two past guests together for the first time: Forest Mommy and Marcus.

    Marcus is an expert on occult practices and Forest Mommy is something of a sex magician. I wanted to bring us together to explore the topic because I realized that there is power behind every sexual experience, whether there is any physical contact between two people or not.

    Forest Mommy uses her sexual energy online to attract an audience and transmit the message of personal freedom, from coerced medical interventions to sexual choice. Marcus uses sex magic within his marriage and seeks a relationship with God.

    My blog is meant for the more personal admissions and reflections about the content than lets say a purely promotional tweet. That said, my questioning had something to do with my own personal experience with someone and I wanted to understand how someone can gain a degree of control over your consciousness without having sex with you. And vice versa. Things that most of us do, like think about someone while gratifying ourselves, can make connections to people energetically or subconsciously.

    I want to be more careful about this. Not only I should be aware of what that does to someone on that level, but what it does for me. The imagination is more powerful than most people would admit. To consecrate my feelings for someone in my imagination is dangerous for myself as well, as it reinforces a potentially false reality. Magic is in many ways no more than the rippling of intention.

    The last thing I want to mention is the difficulty that I had keeping this interview on track. Forest Mommy admits on the show that she is pretty well drunk by the time we go live. I genuinely care for the woman whom I consider a friend and did not like seeing her in that shape for this show. On the other hand, from an objective standpoint, I was faced with interviewing a drunk person. I hope I handled it gracefully.

    With the chat room involved, it is a lively episode, my production value has improved and I’m looking forward to another year of episodes to come. Get it. To come. A verb in transitive.

    You can find Marcus on the Aquarian Anarchy podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find Forest Mommy on YouTube where she hosts two regular occurring livestreams.

  • Vegan Life with Sky Jack Morgan

    Vegan Life with Sky Jack Morgan

    Interview with vegan advocate Sky Jack Morgan

    As a counter balance to my talk with Texas Slim of the Beef Initiative, also a Bitcoin advocate, I had Sky Jack Morgan, host of the Vegan! podcast, entrepreneur, and Ethereum NFT guy. Could not be a starker contrast with Slim.

    My goal with The Not-a-Podcast Show is to talk to everyone about everything. It’s not easy getting liberals/progressives on the show. When I talk to Libertarians they tend to assume I fall in line with their thinking. There is hostility sometimes, but I find it gets real nasty with leftists.

    There was a moment when Sky equates myself to a child molester because I eat meat. He didn’t direct that at me personally, but he sees that as a moral equivalent: molesting animals in farms. I let it roll right past me, because it’s a trap argument to get caught in.

    This was a real test to see where I could find common ground. We ended the talk in good spirits and willing to keep in touch. That is success as far as I’m concerned.

    We talk about the ethics of veganism, the motives and goals, while I push back on the maximalism of that lifestyle/moral choice. It’s not that I have a problem with it or want to advocate for meat. I just think we have to live and let live and support the highest ethics of whatever our choice may be.

    As a coda, I made a 3-minute video chopping up three interviews, including this one, Slim, and Ross Farrier. It is a mashup that helps illuminate the argument and the common ground between us.