here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!
Stratoscope [3 hidden]5 mins ago
That is a wonderful article!
> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.
> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”
ComputerGuru [3 hidden]5 mins ago
TFA has a picture as well; just scroll down.
xnx [3 hidden]5 mins ago
That rock couldn't have been found by a better guy.
I was going to suggest just this! I love Boaty McBoatface.
But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock
aceazzameen [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Can have the best of both worlds.
Da Rocky McRockface
tanseydavid [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Rocky McRockface is the perfect name and gets my vote.
tjwebbnorfolk [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I think this is the only valid name
Stratoscope [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Here are the name finalists:
• Sweet Stone Chicago
• No ORDinary Rock
• Chicago Rocks
• O'Rock
• Orchard Rock
• Da Rock
"No ORDinary Rock" and "Orchard Rock" are the winners for me. They both pay tribute to how O'Hare got its IATA airport code in the 1940s, when it was called Orchard Field.
So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.
deepspace [3 hidden]5 mins ago
How is 'BDU' not the top choice?
swingandamiss [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I like "Orchard Rock" because it's not some stupid reddit'ism.
lbriner [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Just call it "Dwayne Johnson"?
Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.
robotnikman [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I like 'Da Rock' because it reminds me of da orks from Warhammer 40K
jhatax [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Surprised to see `ExtraORDinary Rock` missing => 50-tons, that's got to meet the bar for extraordinary.
toddmorey [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Beanie’s Baby
whycome [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Wish I saw some of the larger list. This still seems weak.
ORD as an acronym? O Rock D
O’Hare Rock Dolostone
O’Hare Runway Dolomite
Rocky.
Da Dolo
RaftPeople [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Ditka
anonymousDan [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I like it. Ditka Rock has a certain ring to it.
toddmorey [3 hidden]5 mins ago
“I am going to show you where on earth in the future we will find the biggest rock: Space.”
Interesting, the construction worker who found is said he never found one that big in all his years working in the field.
I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?
thehappypm [3 hidden]5 mins ago
The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!
bcaulfield [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.
cestith [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Or Rudy Ray Moore.
PyWoody [3 hidden]5 mins ago
If you're ever in the area of Madison, NH and have absolutely nothing else to do, the Madison Boulder is kinda neat. [0] It's a little bigger at about 5k tons.
Glad they included a video of moving it. 50 tons is close to the limit of a typical boom crane.
ternaryoperator [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Is a 50-ton boulder rare or super-rare?
crisnoble [3 hidden]5 mins ago
In chicagoland, yes. For someone who moved there from California, it was strange that rocks hardly larger than a human warranted school field trips and plaques. Perhaps it is geologically cool, but I was unimpressed as a 6th grader. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53236492797_60069bde90_b...
waltbosz [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I thought the same thing. My back yard is full of huge rocks. Nothing quite that large, maybe 1/3 of that size. A few doors down there is a boulder twice as big as the O'Hare one.
I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.
hoppyhoppy2 [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Dunno, but I haven't ever come across one on my property.
Yizahi [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Medium-rare I would guess
tptacek [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Not from the look of it.
whycome [3 hidden]5 mins ago
When Toronto had to name their team, I’m sure that the success of Jurassic Park helped the finalist (Raptors) win. I’m surprised “Rocky” didn’t make a finalist here (via Project Hail Mary).
Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.
O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite
dbcurtis [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Years ago, a company that I worked for had a huge boulder in the parking lot area that had simply been built around. At some point, facilities decided they were going to remove the boulder. Employees printed up some tee shirts that said "Save the BFR". Because, you know, it was a big rock.
karlkloss [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Rocky McRockface
mikewarot [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Tangent time: I've got a smaller one in my yard, and I've got a set of feathers and wedges to avoid having to dig it all up at once. Here's a video of someone using feathers and wedges to split granite.
There's something about finding huge rocks in the ground while digging that makes you just want to take them out and like, use them for something? The last one I found I had to make myself leave it there (well I moved it over a foot so a pipe didn't have to go around it). Like no, it has sat here for thousands of years just fine, it can keep sitting. Glad to hear it applies to 50 ton ones, as well.
acomjean [3 hidden]5 mins ago
In New England they made stone walls out of them. Of course most where smallish
Oh sure, I'm definitely familiar with those. The weird ones are in forests, a reminder that an area used to be clear and then was left to grow back.
The walls of stones were the result of collecting stones that were near the surface from what I understand (maybe plow depth). I was talking more like bigger stones that were buried several feet under the ground that could just stay where they are (when you fill in the hole), but for a compulsion to treat them as things.
I dont get it. Does he have some association with large rocks or something?
tptacek [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Colbert is not a Chicago figure. You'd have to remind the median Chicagoan who knows who he is that he ever spent time here. You might just as easily name it after Bob Odenkirk.
HN.zip
here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!
> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.
> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”
[0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652
But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock
Da Rocky McRockface
So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.
Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.
ORD as an acronym? O Rock D
O’Hare Rock Dolostone O’Hare Runway Dolomite
Rocky.
Da Dolo
https://youtu.be/aO0TUI9r-So?si=7fNwDvf86GpVFxDR
Because, we so often take it for granite.
I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Boulder
I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.
Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.
O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite
https://youtu.be/s7_z-SGxUAs?si=vUKYBWYvG7nncszd&t=924
https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/
PS. If visiting Chicago check out the Lincoln Park Conservatory, an amazing historic plant collection with one of the world's best ferneries, very close to downtown. https://www.lincolnparkconservancy.org/projects/conservatory...
https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/hist...
In “original” England they did as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone
The walls of stones were the result of collecting stones that were near the surface from what I understand (maybe plow depth). I was talking more like bigger stones that were buried several feet under the ground that could just stay where they are (when you fill in the hole), but for a compulsion to treat them as things.
In “original” England they did as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert...