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  • 22
    Jan
    2013
    12:20am, EST

    Rock, the house: solid roof over a Mexican home

    Daniel Becerril / Reuters

    Benito Hernandez stands outside his home near San Jose de Las Piedras in Mexico's northern state of Coahuila on January 16. For over 30 years, Hernandez, his wife Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal and their family have lived in a sun-dried brick home with a huge 130-foot-diameter rock used as a roof. The dwelling is found close to the town of San Jose de Piedras, a remote community located in the arid desert of Coahuila, about 50 miles from the border with Texas.

    Daniel Becerril / Reuters

    Lucero Hernandez, granddaughter of Benito Hernandez and his wife Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal, stands in the doorway of her family's home near San Jose de Las Piedras in Mexico's northern state of Coahuila.

    Daniel Becerril / Reuters

    Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal stands nearby as her husband Benito Hernandez pours hot water into a cup at their home.

    Daniel Becerril / Reuters

    Benito Hernandez stands inside his family's bedroom at his home.

    Daniel Becerril / Reuters

    The home of the Hernandez family at night.

    See more images of interesting structures in PhotoBlog.

    A family in Mexico shows off their home made of rock where they have lived for over 30 years. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    5 comments

    Are you kidding me? Did someone really just say "What rock did you crawl from under...?" Isn't that usually reserved for really creepy people?

    Show more
    Explore related topics: mexico, rock, house, world-news, architecture
  • 25
    Jun
    2012
    2:06am, EDT

    340-ton rock makes its debut at L.A. County Museum of Art

    Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters

    A crowd of people attends the opening of 'Levitated Mass', artist Michael Heizer's exhibit which features a 340-ton megalith rock now on permanent display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, June 24. The massive granite rock made headlines in March when it was slowly carted along a winding, 105-mile journey from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

    Related PhotoBlog: 340-ton rock headed straight for Los Angeles by very slow-moving trailer
    Related PhotoBlog: Workers prepare to move 340-ton rock to L.A. County Museum of Art

    A giant boulder weighing 340 tons was transported in March from a granite quarry and will be unveiled in Los Angeles. The question: Can rock be art? NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

    1 comment

    Soon we will go to the museum to see a tree, like Joni Mitchell said.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: art, rock, california, los-angeles-county-museum, michael-heizer
  • 9
    Mar
    2012
    4:48pm, EST

    340-ton rock headed straight for Los Angeles by very slow-moving trailer

    Fred Prouser / Reuters

    A woman carries a a baby past a 340-ton megalith rock, which is to be part of artist Michael Heizer's artwork "Levitated Mass", as it is seen on a transport vehicle in the middle of the road, about 5 miles from downtown Los Angeles on Friday. The massive granite boulder is on the last leg of an 11-night, 106-mile journey to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art where it will become the centerpiece of artist Heizer's 'Levitated Mass.' It is expected to arrive in the early morning hours on Saturday and will take weeks to put in place before the installation opens to the public in late spring or early summer. The $10 million cost to move the boulder was paid for by the museum through private donors.

    Fred Prouser / Reuters

    The 340-ton megalith rock, which is to be part of artist Michael Heizer's artwork "Levitated Mass", seen from underneath its transport vehicle.

    Below, a wider night-time shot showing the whole contraption:

    Ringo H.W. Chiu / AP

    A 340-ton boulder is hoisted onto a giant trailer move along Granite Hill Drive early Wednesday Feb. 29 in Jurupa Valley, Calif.

    AP reports that the rock's journey was delayed repeatedly as 22 cities weighed in on its path:

    The museum finally worked out a route that went around freeway overpasses, stayed away from bridges and avoided narrow streets to enough of a degree that everybody was satisfied. The total project is costing $5 million to $10 million.

    "It's funny, the Egyptians didn't have rubber wheels and diesel trucks to move things. But they also didn't have 22 cities through which they had to move their stones," museum director Michael Govan noted recently.

    Follow @msnbc_pictures

    6 comments

    Art has stopped being art. This is not art, it is something else, a comic absurdity. Museums are repositories of the fruits of oppression and possession and status, far more than they are of art. People with money paying millions to move a stone while people loose their homes, politicians invade the …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: art, rock, los-angeles, us-news
  • 3
    Oct
    2011
    12:40am, EDT

    Workers prepare to move 340-ton rock to L.A. County Museum of Art

    Jae C. Hong / AP

    Joe Schofield stands in front of a 340-ton rock as he and other workers prepare to transport the rock from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Stone Valley Materials in Riverside, Calif. Image made on Sept. 22.

    Jae C. Hong / AP

    Joe Schofield welds a giant steel beam built to support a 340-ton rock as he and other workers prepare to transport the rock from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art at Stone Valley Materials in Riverside, Calif. Image made Sept. 22.

    AP reports:

    In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to push a giant rock up a hill for eternity. In modern-day LA, the city's largest museum has spent months — and $5 million to $10 million — trying to get a 340-ton boulder from a dusty quarry in Riverside onto its campus west of downtown.

    When the teardrop-shaped chunk of granite finally arrives it will become the focal point of acclaimed earth artist Michael Heizer's latest creation, "Levitated Mass." Museum visitors by the thousands are expected to walk under what will be one of the largest environmental art creations ever placed in an urban setting.

    Read more here.

    3 comments

    ...PS...I guess the artist who is doing the installation with the boulder isn't exactly 'starving'...some of those millions of dollars are probably going to him. I knew I should've kept up my painting lessons.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: stone, rock, us-news, arts, los-angeles-county-museum-of-art
  • 15
    Mar
    2011
    9:35am, EDT

    Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

    Inductee Tom Waits and Neil Young perform onstage at the 26th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at The Waldorf Astoria on March 14, 2011 in New York City.

    Tom Waits and Neil Young perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony

    By Mish Whalen

    Cool photo of Waits and Young during a ceremony that brought together Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Darlene Love, Dr. John and Leon Russell. See more photos from the event here.

    4 comments

    Just want to recommend "Elton John and Leon Russell's" collaborative new CD....it's wonderful.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: music, rock, and, ceremony, roll
  • 8
    Mar
    2011
    8:17am, EST

    Tumbling 30-ton rock raises thousands for earthquake victims

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    After a 30-ton rock crashed through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb. 22 earthquake, Christchurch resident Phil Johnson had an idea - why not sell it?

    Phil Johnson / AP

    In this photo taken March 1, a car-sized boulder is seen after smashing Phil Johnson's house in last month's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Johnson has sold the rock, Rocky, in an online auction for more than 60,000 New Zealand dollars (US$44,300). Johnson said the 30-ton boulder tumbled down from a hill overlooking his home, crunched through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb 22 quake. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.

    His listing on an online auction site described the "pristine condition" of the boulder Phil had dubbed 'Rocky' and suggested that it was "suitable for garden feature, or as in our case a magnificent addition to your living area."

    The auction raised an astonishing US $44,300, and Phil is donating the proceeds to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Rocky was bought by a company which runs ski resorts, according to a report in The New Zealand Herald.

    80 year old Betty McGrail is not quite so enamored with the boulder that landed in her living room.

    Sarah Ivey / AP

    In this photo taken March 4, Betty McGrail, 80, sits in her living room next to a large boulder which crashed through her house in the Feb. 22 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

    The Herald reports that Betty fled her home when the earthquake struck. "There were boulders and rocks coming down the hill from all different areas," she said.

    "They came down the hill fast, bouncing. They came from everywhere with a 'boom, boom, boom'. When I went back to my house this big boulder was in the sitting room. It's sitting there quite nicely, like it's happy to be there. And no one knows how to get it out."

    2 comments

    Looks like you're going to be doing some remodeling . A large skylight would fit nicely into the opening there, but you'll need a heavy duty crane to get that rock out of the sitting room; suggest that to the rock's new owners.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: earthquake, auction, rock, new-zealand, rocky, world-news, featured, boulder, christchurch, oceania
  • 23
    Feb
    2011
    6:15pm, EST

    Boulder crashes through house in New Zealand before coming to a stop at roadside

    For more images from New Zealand, see our slideshow.

    Mark Baker / AP

    A hole, created by a giant boulder which crashed through a house during Tuesday's earthquake, is seen near Lyttleton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. Tuesday's magnitude-6.3 temblor caused extensive damage, and killed dozens of people in the city.

    Mark Baker / AP

    A giant boulder sits below a house that it went through during Tuesday's earthquake near Lyttleton on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. Tuesday's magnitude-6.3 temblor caused extensive damage, and killed dozens of people in the city.

     

    3 comments

    Reminds me of a giant boulder that hit a 3 story house in Colorado several years ago. It demolished half the house, and unfortunately killed the couple who lived in it.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: world, earthquake, rock, new-zealand, rock-slide, featured

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