The 2008 NTA Annual Convention, held Nov. 15-19 in Pittsburgh, set a record for the amount of materials that were recycled from a single show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The center is the first and largest certified green convention center in the world.

Officials at the convention center reported that everyone who attended the NTA Convention helped to recycle 9.435 tons of material. The figure includes nearly 3.465 tons of composted materials, 3 tons of cardboard and 2.97 tons of bottles, cans and loose paper. Additionally, 123,500 gallons of water was reclaimed. In addition to being the highest amount recycled from one event, the total represents 49 percent of all the recycling for the convention center.

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More than 454,000 people attended Saturday’s “Night of the Museums” event, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture.  The event was so successful, they are already announcing the date of next year’s, Saturday, November 21st.  Boedo, Caballito and La Boca were the most visited neighborhoods.  The main event, which was a screening of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” was viewed by approximately 28,732 people.  The event was supposed to last from 7pm until 2am, but many places closed late.  The Recoleta Cultural Center received 28, 828 visitors and finally closed its doors around 3am.

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A 65-year-old Argentina man won a record prize of 2,946,969.38 pesos (nearly one million dollars) at a slot machine in the Hipodromo of Palermo.According to La Nación, the size of the prize was a record not only in Argentina but in all of Latin America.All that is known about the man who won is that his first name is Juan and he was a regular player of slot machines.The machine that gave the prize was a Star Wars machine.Many types of gambling in Buenos Aires are illegal, but slot machines are not, and this particular gambling location is finding by the National Lottery.The managers of the Hipodromo claim that this is not the first time someone has won over a million pesos; last year a man won 1,200,000 pesos.

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While Argentina has had its problems this year, with the campoblocking roads and now the drought, the nation nonetheless received good economic news yesterday.According to the Clarín, 7.039 million dollars in exports left the country during the month of July, setting a new record.Additionally, purchase within the nation were valued at around six billion dollars, making the country’s commercial surplus around one billion dollars.These statistics were announced yesterday by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses) and show that international sales have risen 53 percent since July of last year.For anyone investing in the Argentine economy, these statistics seems like good news indeed.

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In July, 41 people who are the tenth born child in their family met in Buenos Aires, setting a new Guinness World Record.According to the Catholic News Agency, this gathering was convoked to honor St. Gianna Beretta Molla and to support the value of families in Catholic homes.The people who participated in the event certainly know a lot about family.It was organized by Mariano and Luz Carreras, who wanted tenth-born children to have a chance to get together and talk about their experiences growing up in such exceptional circumstances.The Carreras realize that large families can be a controversial topic these days, but they note that without large families none of these children would exist, nor would their unique experiences.

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On the last day of July, Cerro Catedral, Bariloche’s major ski slope, registered a record number of skiers in a single day: 13,023.These skiers are being heralded as the “true” start of the winter ski season, a refrain we have heard several times now as the snows keep coming and then not lasting.However, according to Diario Rio Negro, people in Bariloche are optimistic that the average number of skiers a day last year, 11,000, will begin to be met this year too.Another ski resort that is seeing its numbers improve is Chapelco, at San Martín de los Andes.Over the past weekend, number of skiers there exceeded the number they had last year by five percent.Skiing is a popular way for families to spend their winter vacations, and ski resorts can only hope that these excellent numbers continue throughout the month of August.

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It may be winter in Argentina, but it doesn’t feel like it. Yesterday, the city of Rosario experienced a record warm day of 31.6 degrees Celsius (88.8 degrees Fahrenheit). This is the warmest day during the winter in Rosario in a very long time, topping the warm summer 39 years ago when it reached 31.3 degrees.According to La Capital, this high temperature may be caused by warm winds blowing in from Brazil and Paraguay, just as the unusually cold snap in the fall was caused by winds from the Antarctic.In Buenos Aires it was not that hot, but it was still in the mid 70s and people were out in their t-shirts and shorts.

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A Buenos Aires institution, Abraxas, opened 25 years ago and still retains its original role of musical guide, more than just music vendor.According to the Clarin, the store is located at Santa Fe 1200, a shopping complex full of small, eclectic music stores.  Abraxas offers only rock from 1950 to today, but they offer it with a large serving of knowledge and love.When asked about how he felt about the CD or record in the age of MP3s, owner Fernando Pau said that most people often still need a physical connection with music.That is what Abraxas continues to offer porteñosand tourists alike.

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