Yesterday we went to the cinema to see the charming "The Penguin Lessons". Steve Coogan is the main actor. Jonathan Pryce is also in it. It is based on a 2015 memoir by Tom Michell, a British teacher who taught at a boys' boarding school in Argentina in the 1970s (when he was in his twenties; the fact Coogan is 58 didn't really matter). Michell finds a penguin soaked with oil on a beach in Uruguay and takes it back to the school, where it becomes a popular pet. The message is the usual positive side of humanism, the main character being a bit of a waster with a sad past (fictional addition) who perhaps does some good despite himself. It's a 12a for good reason but is worth watching if you can cope with the periodic swearing. The penguin is brilliant. They mostly used real animals apparently but there was a little jiggery-pokery. (This is at least the third Argentinian-themed film for Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, who previously played Argentinian president Juan Perón in Evita, as my wife pointed out to me, and also Pope Francis II (who was Argentinian) in The Two Popes.
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
10 Famous Argentinians
1. José de San Martín General
2. Ernesto "Che" Guevara revolutionary
3. Eva Peron first lady
4. Juan Manuel Fangio racing driver
5. Jorge Luis Borges writer
6. Diego Maradona footballer
7. Roberto de Vincenzo golfer
8. Guillermo Vilas tennis player
9. Lionel Messi footballer
10. Pope Francis
Grace Assembly 08 Day 1
On Wednesday Eleri took me to the tube in Golders Green and I headed to St Pancras International. I’d not been there since it became the home of Eurostar. All very nice – more like an airport now I guess, though that’s a two-edged sword. A packed train got us to Derby in good time. Derby was more finished than when I was there last but the railway station is a good way from the city centre and the faceless homogeneity of it all made me feel slightly resentful of the northified accents everywhere. I eventually found a packed bus heading in the right direction. The woman driver, who called me ‘duck’ was very nice about getting me to the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick. Around half way she stopped the bus and went to give a carrot to a horse in a field – to the delight of the mostly elderly passengers.
Anyway I reached the Hayes in good time. Dr and Mrs Oliver spotted me and gave me a lift up the long drive. We couldn’t get into our rooms until after lunch so we milled about and then ate lunch together and went to our rooms later. We have managed to get up to a hundred with day visitors so it’s a decent number. We’re rather on the grey side and pretty mono-cultural sadly but there are reasons for that.
Jack and Alison Jenner were our hosts so Jack preached from Philippians 2 for the first session. Later on we had a news reports session featuring Simon Calvert from the Christian Institute (who also did a late night session after 9.30 pm); Eric Cousins from the Particular Baptist Trust, etc; John MacDonald from GBM; Trevor Routley from Argentina, who spoke about the desperate need for Reformed teachers in that country. Also we had Barry King an American from Arkansas who has been in London for a few years now helping the Grace Association with replanting churches. He’s quite a case. His best story was of going to Watford and no-one turning up but preaching anyway. Somehow that led to someone who lived nearby coming that evening, someone who had been praying for something to happen. It is difficult to know if his optimism is down to culture, personality or theology but it is a good thing.
In the evening Nick Needham spoke on hell. There is something slightly brutal looking about Nick but he speaks with very clearly enunciated English and with subdued passion that is quite compelling. With quotations from Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, etc, he took us through the orthodox doctrine adding some fresh things and some necessary correctives. He dealt with objections to the doctrine based on both the justice and the mercy of God. His burden was evangelistic in some ways but with no emotionalism he urged believers to live in the light of the doctrine.
After Simon Calvert I caught the end of the football. Poor Chelsea.
Anyway I reached the Hayes in good time. Dr and Mrs Oliver spotted me and gave me a lift up the long drive. We couldn’t get into our rooms until after lunch so we milled about and then ate lunch together and went to our rooms later. We have managed to get up to a hundred with day visitors so it’s a decent number. We’re rather on the grey side and pretty mono-cultural sadly but there are reasons for that.
Jack and Alison Jenner were our hosts so Jack preached from Philippians 2 for the first session. Later on we had a news reports session featuring Simon Calvert from the Christian Institute (who also did a late night session after 9.30 pm); Eric Cousins from the Particular Baptist Trust, etc; John MacDonald from GBM; Trevor Routley from Argentina, who spoke about the desperate need for Reformed teachers in that country. Also we had Barry King an American from Arkansas who has been in London for a few years now helping the Grace Association with replanting churches. He’s quite a case. His best story was of going to Watford and no-one turning up but preaching anyway. Somehow that led to someone who lived nearby coming that evening, someone who had been praying for something to happen. It is difficult to know if his optimism is down to culture, personality or theology but it is a good thing.
In the evening Nick Needham spoke on hell. There is something slightly brutal looking about Nick but he speaks with very clearly enunciated English and with subdued passion that is quite compelling. With quotations from Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, etc, he took us through the orthodox doctrine adding some fresh things and some necessary correctives. He dealt with objections to the doctrine based on both the justice and the mercy of God. His burden was evangelistic in some ways but with no emotionalism he urged believers to live in the light of the doctrine.
After Simon Calvert I caught the end of the football. Poor Chelsea.
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