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Phil McMullen

@philmcm.bsky.social
605 followers 467 following 132 posts

Writer, editor, printer & publisher at the Ptolemaic Press (a letterpress operation) in Wiltshire. Experienced gardener, and a retiring town planner.

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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
You’d have thought that after 14 years these Emmerdale allotmenteers would know not to dig potatoes with a spade, and not rhyme couch (grass) with couch as in sofa… #GardenersWorld
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
@martycricket.bsky.social Did anyone get back to you on the subject of DJs named Casey? Casey Kaseem was the name you were thinking of earlier. I remember listening to him on my transistor radio.
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Just found this in a drawer and installed it to claim my 100 hours free internets. Quickly realised I was seeing news about the PREVIOUS Gulf War, so I've signed up to an online betting shop and got great odds on predicting the exact day the Queen is going to die....
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I have to say, the new Opera Air browser I just download to my MacBook is an absolute game-changer. Completely different look, quick as greased lightning, and I'm LOVING the breathing exercises and mindful music / rainfall sounds they've packaged into it. Refreshing in every sense of the term!
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Somerset County Cricket Club @somersetccc.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
COMPETITION: We are giving away a signed copy of the new County Championship shirt in conjunction with WPA Health Insurance! 🎁 To be in with a chance simply like, repost and follow @somersetccc.bsky.social! The winner will be chosen at random next week! #WeAreSomerset
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
It's been a while since we ran an interview feature in the Terrascope, but this one was just too good an opportunity to miss... Nigel Cross chats to James Roberts the genial genius behind the mighty DELTA www.terrascope.co.uk/Features/Del...
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Sad to hear (via Bill Bruford) that percussionist Jamie Muir passed away yesterday, 17th February. We featured Jamie in Ptolemaic Terrascope issue 8 back in 1991, so this seems as good a time as any to reproduce the interview here: bit.ly/4i0SkJ7
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
A single LP (sides 1 & 2) with a gatefold sleeve is invariably stored on the right-hand side as you open it. The left side is usually a sealed flap. So why do new double LPs always come with sides 3 & 4 stored on the right-hand side and sides 1 & 2 relegated to the left-hand side? It's just WRONG.
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Terrascopædia 24. Interviews include Barbara Manning, Ben Chasny, Jeffrey Alexander, Henry Parker. Entirely hand printed, set in 14pt type on a 1926 Arab Foolscap Folio treadle press. Large Post Quarto size. 28 pages. 150 copies made. Handful left. the-ptolemaic-press.sumupstore.com/products
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
First snowdrop’s out in the garden here. Poor thing has popped its head above the parapet on the coldest day of the winter so far, but it’s all the more welcome for all that.
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Well, that went better than I expected... #alphaguess
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Andrew Wilcox (Wilco) @readersheds.co.uk · 25/11/2024
A sheddie on bluesky, great shed The Ptolemaic Press - Workshop/Studio - Wiltshire #shedoftheyear owned by Sheddie Philip McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social www.readersheds.co.uk/share.cfm?sh... The Ptolemaic Press is a #printing press #publishing hand-crafted #publications on #vintage equipment
An exterior shot of the green shed. It's a light green wooden structure with a flat roof, double doors, and several windows. A small security camera is mounted near the roof. A path leads up to the shed, and trees and shrubs are visible in the surrounding area.Close-up of the workspace inside the shed. Wooden drawers containing printing blocks and other materials line the walls. A vintage-style adjustable lamp is mounted above a workspace with printing trays and metal type pieces laid out. The green-painted window frame is visible, and a glimpse of greenery outside can be seen.Focuses on the printing press with a stack of blank paper ready to be printed. The intricate mechanics of the press are visible. A wider view of the shed's interior, showing a large printing press, a small stool, and more work surfaces along the walls. The green-painted window frames are a prominent feature, and the wooden floor is polished.
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Carnage here! So many trees down! #stormbert
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
I was planning on doing some typesetting today but looking at how hard the frost is, I have a feeling I'll be staying inside rather than sitting out in the sunshine...
fox terrier dog, a mug of tea, a pile of logs and a tray of metal type ready for sorting
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Soundtrack to today’s print session is an absolutely gorgeous new/forthcoming album on Silver Current from Julie Beth Napolin, delivering blissed out vibes like some heavenly collision betwixt Nico and Kendra Smith
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Streetwise, Cville Safety Cat: Interested Female Vocalists Write @averysafecat.bsky.social · 30/09/2024
Do you like the feedback at the beginning of Sonic Youth's dancefloor hit "Ghost Bitch"? Of course, we all do. Well here's an album (and frankly, a band) that does nothing but that. Enjoy with a snifter of methylated spirits in the squat of your choice. mirrorworldmusic.bandcamp.com/album/live-a...
mirrorworldmusic.bandcamp.com
Live at Zwingli-Kirche, by Feedbackorchester
2 track album
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 26/08/2024
New-found respect today for those French salesmen who would bring their cycles, striped shirts & berets across to S. England with strings of onions slung insouciantly around their necks. It was all I could do to lift them up onto their hooks in the orchard drying room today. Such a weight!
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
View of the new workshop from the other direction - paper temporarily stored up high. I’ve successfully printed the some cover images for the next issue of the Terrascopædia so it’s fair to say we’re up and running now.
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
The Ptolemaic Press is close to moving in to its new home - the presses are up and running, the type holdings (some wood, mainly metal) has still to be moved but we’re getting there…
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Record Crates United @recordcratesunited.bsky.social · 19/10/2023
Free Times’ self-titled LP is a skronky, fuzzed-up cosmic ride that any of my fellow jam heads will dig: recordcratesunited.com/2023/10/19/f...
recordcratesunited.com
Free Times – s/t
Free Times' self-titled LP is a revitalizing breath of fresh air. Here we have a band that takes choogling fuzz-drenched rock and glides it over a motorik beat as a launching pad for jamming out deep ...
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 19/10/2023
Terrascope's reviews for October are up now, and there's some real gems this month incl. new ones by Teeth of the Sea and the Luck of Eden Hall. I should add that although I retain a fatherly interest, publishing rights to Terrascope are independently owned. www.terrascope.co.uk/Reviews/Revi...
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 16/10/2023
Bob-dog diligently guards the bottom row of records. In order to dive in and grab the one I want to play, I have to pull a handful at a time and hope the right one is in amongst them. Returning it to its proper place is an entirely separate operation in which careful timing is absolutely vital...
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Phil McMullen @philmcm.bsky.social · 23/09/2023
Lovely day spent at the New Forest Wayzgoose today. Bought linocuts, ink, type AND scored some vintage plates and equipment from the former Curwen Press. Amazing to think this stuff could actually have been handled by Ravilious et al
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