Graydon James is the kind of person who still appreciates the value of a good mix tape. He owns many things, one of which is a typewriter. He also has a good head of hair on him. He can see, literally, millions of different colours all at once. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Graydon has written songs about ninjas, about walking around corners and falling in love, about leaving a small town, about being nervous, about grabbing your coat and being late, about putting two keys in an envelope, about grandmothers, about accidents with the human heart, about getting dropkicked, about talking to yourself, about lying to avoid work, about making sure, and about sitting in cars listening to music. He's not the best thing that ever happened in the history of the world, but he thinks that you are.

Many things have been said about Graydon James, and this is one of those things:

"In the US, we differentiate slips based on their intended ends. A forward slip is used to steepen the approach by increasing drag — at the cost of misalignment between the aircraft's heading (where the nose is pointing) and its track (path across the ground). A side slip is the same maneuver, used during a crosswind landing to align the aircraft's landing gear (and, therefore, its heading) with its track — at the cost of increased drag. Same maneuver, same symptoms, different ends. Unfortunately, this differentiation has been extended by many pilots, flight instructors, and authors into a substantive difference — two maneuvers, each warranting its own explanation." -- Chris O'Callaghan, Gliding Magazine, issue 12/2005

Also:

"There he met and married Artie Nichols, a native of Kentucky and, no doubt to Ted's delight, 'herself a licensed pilot.' A short honeymoon at Lake Louise in Canada was all the war permitted. Ted reported back to Santa Ana to train in P-38s in Squadron #36. From there he wrote of his flying exploits, clearly loving the life on an aviator: 'This P-38 is a pretty sweet ship but it takes a man with a strong arm to wring (it) out -- the other day we were letting down from 34,000 feet 'cause my oxygen failed we clocked 450 MPH at 28,000. When that is calibrated for altitude and temperature it is better than 750 MPH. And just off the record I would like to say that ain't hay.'" -- History Ink, http://www.historylink.org/essays/printer_friendly/index.cfm?file_id=5654

And, of course:

"The sun is a violent and terrific thing, bursting with energy. If it weren't for our powerful magnetic field, we would have never had the chance to evolve, let alone stand outside and enjoy its magnificence. Next time you are outside, think briefly about how much energy it would take to get 10 billion tons of gas moving 1250 miles per second. Then realize that its only another day in the life of a medium sized star." -- http://www.flexistentialist.org/archives/2003/10/30/the_force_of_nat.shtml#000364