A ministry (usually preceded by the definite article, i.e., the ministry) refers to a collective body of government ministers headed by a prime minister or premier. It is described by the Oxford Dictionary as "a period of government under one prime minister”. Although the term "cabinet" can in some circumstances be a synonym, a ministry can be a broader concept which might include office-holders that do not participate in cabinet meetings. Other titles can include “administration” (in the United States) or “government” (in common usage among most parliamentary systems) to describe similar collectives.

The term is primarily used to describe the successive governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which share a common parliamentary political heritage. In these countries (except Canada), a new ministry begins after each election, regardless of whether the Prime Minister remains the same. For example, after winning the 1979 general election, Margaret Thatcher, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, began the First Thatcher Ministry. After wining the 1983 general election, she began the Second Thatcher Ministry, and so on.

Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American rock singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, winemaker, and actor. Originally from Ohio, Keenan spent his high school and college years in Michigan. After serving in the Army in the early 1980s, he attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1988 to pursue a career in interior design and set construction. He formed the band Tool with Adam Jones shortly thereafter.

Keenan is best known as the lead singer of the multi-platinum rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle with whom he has released four and two studio albums, respectively. In 2003 he created Puscifer as a side project, financing and releasing its first studio album in October 2007. Since rising to fame, Keenan has been a noted recluse, although he does emerge to support charitable causes.

In addition to his music career, he has performed improvisational stand-up comedy and ventured into acting. He is the current owner of Merkin Vineyards and the associated winery, Caduceus Cellars, and has part ownership of Stronghold Vineyards, all located in Arizona, where he lives. Among other business ventures, he is a partner in the Los Angeles restaurant Cobras & Matadors, and owns a produce market and an organic market in Cornville, Arizona, the latter featuring a tasting room for his wines as well as a food court.

Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) was a British surreal comedy group who created Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music.

The television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach (aided by Gilliam's animation), it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons' creative control allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.

Mario A. Murillo is a journalist who has worked in commercial, public, and community radio for over 22 years. He hosts and produces Wakeup Call on WBAI-Pacifica in New York. An associate professor at Hofstra University, Murillo is also the author of Colombia and the United States: War, Unrest, and Destabilization and Islands of Resistance: Puerto Rico, Vieques and U.S. Policy.

He was born in New York City, his father from Bogotá, Colombia, his mother from Moca, Puerto Rico.

Currently, he is Associate Professor of Communication at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where he coordinates the Audio/Radio program within the Department of Radio, Television, Film. He is also Executive Producer of "Hofstra's Morning Wake Up Call," the daily morning drive radio program on WRHU 88.7FM, Radio Hofstra University.

He is a Fulbright Scholar, having received a research and teaching fellowship in Colombia in 2008. As part of his project, he is working in the Faculty of Communication at the Universidad Pontificia la Javeriana, collaborating with members of the radio program at the University.