California (pronounced ⁱ/kælɨˈfɔrnjə/) is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive (after Alaska and Texas). It is home to the nation's second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas (Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and San Francisco Bay Area), and eight of the nation's fifty most populated cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach and Oakland). The capital city is Sacramento.

California's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east – from the Redwood–Douglas-fir forests of the northwest, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast. The center of the state is dominated by Central Valley, a major agricultural area. California contains both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States (Mount Whitney and Death Valley), and has the third-longest coastline of all states (after Alaska and Florida). Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state's location along the Pacific Ring of Fire: about 37,000 are recorded annually.

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was first established in 1945, as the Philadelphia Warriors, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the franchise won the championship in the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the league that would eventually become the National Basketball Association after a merger with the National Basketball League (NBL).

In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden State Warriors. The team has played home games in the building currently known as the Oracle Arena since 1966, and exclusively since 1972 with the exception of a one-year hiatus during which they played in San Jose, California while the Oracle Arena was being remodeled. Along with their inaugural championship win in the 1946–47 season, the Warriors have won two others in the team's history, including another in Philadelphia after the 1955–56 season, and one as Golden State after the 1974–75 season, tying them for 5th in the NBA in number of championships.

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".

Edwards, the daughter of a diplomat, spent portions of her youth in Korea and Switzerland. Her father is Leonard Edwards, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. At age 5, Edwards began classical violin studies that continued for the next 12 years. As a teenager she lived overseas, where she spent much of her time listening to her brother's records of Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Her brother also bought her first record, a Tom Petty album. After high school she decided not to attend college, instead opting to play local clubs to pay the bills. Her musical sound has been compared to Suzanne Vega meets Neil Young.

In 2011, she divorced longtime collaborator Colin Cripps and began a relationship with Justin Vernon, American singer/songwriter and front man of the band Bon Iver.

In 1999, Edwards recorded a six-song EP entitled Building 55 and pressed 500 copies. By the fall of 2000, she was on tour across Canada managing her own gigs. In 2001, she wrote seven of the ten songs for her 2003 debut release Failer.

Terry Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the mid 1980s through the early 1990s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF—now WWE), and was notable in the mid-to-late 1990s as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Following the closure of WCW, he made a brief return to WWE in the early 2000s before revising his heroic character by combining elements of his two most famous personas.

Hogan was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. He is a 12-time world champion being a six-time WWF/WWE Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, as well as a former WWE World Tag Team Champion with Edge. He won the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991, making him the first to win two consecutive Royal Rumbles. He was also the first WWE wrestler to win the WWE Championship three times. In his first reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hogan held the title for 469 days from July 17, 1994 to October 29, 1995—the longest ever reign for this championship.