For nearly 31 years, this flash of distracting cognitive dissonance has struck each time Steve Perry’s bright tenor lands on the iconic but geographically flawed second line: “just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit.” Because, as anyone with a tie to the Motor City knows, South Detroit doesn’t exist, either as a term of art or a geographical locale.

East Side? Sure. It’s where Eminen spent his adolescence. West?* Home to the original Motown Records. Southwest? Best Mexican food in the state. But South Detroit is as fictional as the Shire of Middle-earth.

Even songwriter Perry did not realize that there was no such place until just a couple of years ago. He finally explains how it ended up in the song. Link -via Metafilter

What fun! Animate the raptor on your shirt with your sleeves! These shirts come in frog, alligator, and other styles for both children and adults from Mouth Man. And here’s some unexpected trivia: the Mouth Man shirt company was founded by bass player Ross Valory, founding and current member of the band Journey. Link (warning: autoplay music video) -via reddit

Bill and Amarins packed up their three young daughters Cheyenne, Jasmine, and Robin and set off on a 7,000 mile journey from Mt. Vernon, Kentucky (just up the road from me) to Alaska. What’s different about this trip is that they are traveling on a bicycle built for five! They call themselves the Pedouins, which is combination of pedal and Bedouins, meaning nomadic people. The journey included a detour to Mexico, since the purpose of the trip is to teach their children about the world. The family began the trip in October of last year, and they’ve made it to California so far. You can follow their adventure on their website. Link -Thanks, Hanan!

Ben Miller of Urlesque has compiled several pop, rock, and metal songs performed by harpists, such as CKania13′s rendition of Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” The other videos are selections from Journey, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Lenny Kravitz.

Link | Previously on Neatorama: Harptallica

If there’s one thing Star Wars fans and non-fans can agree on its’ that the music for each film, composed and conducted by John Williams, is simply outstanding. The familiar tunes have transcended time to become some of the most recognizable and best scores in the history of cinema.

Lucasfilm and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have teamed for Star Wars: A Musical Journey which is set to unveil in April at London’s O2 arena before blasting off on a European tour. The two hour show features clips from all six films, live narration and orchestration.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.