A little bit of nostalgia for you today.
Misty air conditioned memories...
Like many of us, Bruce Robison has driven by the Astrodome and gotten emotional.
He is of that age — born in 1966, one year after the Dome opened — that gives him a genuine reverence for the Eighth Wonder of the World.
When he was young, Robison moved from boomtown Houston to small-town Bandera in the Hill Country. But as was the case with many Texans, the Astrodome still earned a special place in his heart.
Robison saw quarterbacks, left fielders, horses, bulls, motorcycles, demolition derby cars and monster trucks. He says he even saw what was touted as the biggest ape in the world at the Astrodome.
His father was at the Game of the Century between UH and UCLA. That game brought college basketball to a national audience and a huge stadium for the first time.
While most of us just wax nostalgic over the stadium that was once Houston’s claim to fame, Robison figured he should put his thoughts on wax.
Thus was born the song “Astrodome,” which the award-winning tunesmith has turned into an eye-catching video project.
The short film of the song is a unique blend of archival footage from the good ol’ days with clips from inside the Astrodome as it is now. Unique animation brings to life a place that has long been dead.
Here’s the video:
I’m not from here, and the Dome was hardly a novelty by the time I got here, but I still have my own fond memories of the place. But nothing lasts forever, and unlike most other retired stadia, the Dome will get a chance to have a second act. And we’ll always have our own remembrances of the place.
*sniff*