Blog Post: LACMA's Rock Star Captures Attention

If you have watched the news at all the past few days you are aware that an event is unfolding in the Los Angeles area that has gotten many people very excited. No, it's not a reduction in the price of a mocha latte at Starbucks or a new celebrity trial. It's something much more ordinary that has captured the attention and imaginations in the Southland. It's a rock. A big rock. A REALLY big rock.

You may already know that the Los Angeles County Art Museum bought a massive boulder for an exhibit at their Wilshire location. Specifically, it's a 340 ton rock that is being moved 105 miles in a steel sling by a 176 wheel transport truck. Okay. The statistics and sheer effort of moving something that big is impressive. No one is that surprised by the challenge of moving this massive piece of granite. What IS surprising LACMA and the media is how people are reacting to this seemingly simple event of moving a rock from point A to point B.

In short, people are flocking to the rock. It started as small groups who were curious about the transport of such a big cargo and gradually the crowds have gotten larger and have become more involved. By the time the rock reached Long Beach, a crowd of 20,000 people were there to meet and greet it! Mitt Romney should be so fortunate in one of his personal appearances!

Onlookers have taken vacation days from work to see this rock, parties have erupted (some lasting five hours or more), cheers and confetti are offered when the rock clears an overpass or the vehicle transporting it makes a tricky turn. The crowd has danced to the theme song from "Rocky" and greet the rock in all forms of costumes.

No one anticipated that moving a rock would bring a reaction like this. You just have to love Californians. We'll find any reason to party and make spectacles of ourselves! But not everyone is a fan. There is a Facebook page called "The Stupid LAMCA Boulder." Must be a bunch of newly-transplanted residents from back East who haven't tuned in to the California "vibe" yet! Oh well, not everyone can be a fan.

In reality, if one starts to analyze this whole project, it can start to fall apart a bit. It is costing $10 million dollars to transport this rock. That's a lot of money to take for "granite." Some people feel that $10 million could be spent in a better way.

At any rate, the good citizens of Southern California now have a new rock star. There's something rather appealing about the fact that we have celebrities here like Brad and Angelina, Grammy, Tony, Oscar and Emmy winners and great tourist spots like Disneyland and the La Brea tar Pits and yet people can still get enthused by a rock. You have to love that. It proves that Southern Californians are not meek about embracing new fads and celebrities. We are "boulder"!