The Megali Idea (Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα Megáli Idéa, the "Great Idea") was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited areas, including the large Greek populations that after the restoration of Greek independence in 1830, from the Ottoman Empire, still lived under Ottoman rule.

The term appeared for the first time during the debates of Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis with King Otto that preceded the promulgation of the 1844 constitution. This was a visionary nationalist aspiration that was to dominate foreign relations and, to a significant extent, determine domestic politics of the Greek state for much of the first century of its independent existence. If the expression was new in 1844, the concept had roots in the Greek popular psyche, nurtured as it was by prophecies and legends that had kept hopes of eventual liberation from Turkish rule and imperial (Byzantine) restoration alive. This is reflected in the folk saying:

Matthew ("Matt") Diffee is an American cartoonist whose works appear in the New Yorker magazine.

Diffee was born in Denton, Texas.

His father was an airline pilot. He has a background in art and stand-up comedy (which he still performs from time to time). As a struggling artist he took various day jobs, including road work, construction, and as a convenience store cashier.

Diffee moved from Boston to New York and began contributing to the New Yorker in 1999, after winning a cartoon contest the magazine and the Algonquin Hotel sponsored for an all-cartoon issue, in the process meeting Robert Mankoff, the cartoon editor, in person. Mankoff encouraged Diffee to contribute to the magazine. After three weeks of submission Mankoff chose one cartoon, which became Diffee's first published work. For the next year Diffee submitted fifteen cartoons per week; the magazine published a total of four. The next year Diffee sold eight cartoons to the magazine, each at the standard rate of $675.

Diffee's first book, The Rejection Collection, was a compilation of cartoons by various artists that had been rejected from the magazine along with questionnaires and portraits of each artist. In an interview he noted that 90% of even a successful freelance cartoonist's works are rejected, and that most cartoonists are known only for their work, not their personal lives. Many rejected cartoons are good, he explained, but inappropriate for the magazine because they are politically incorrect or sexually suggestive: "...the idea that the cartoonist did it, and actually pitched it to the New Yorker, makes it even funnier to me, like ‘what were they thinking’?" As of the book's publication the magazine had published more than 100 of Diffee's cartoons, a significant accomplishment for a young cartoonist.

Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales. He has seven top-20 US albums, and ten number-one US jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in the US jazz chart history.

Connick's best selling album in the United States is his 1993 Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas, which also is one of the best selling Christmas albums in the United States. His highest charting album, is his 2004 release Only You which reached #5 in the U.S. and #6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Grace's husband, Dr. Leo Markus, on the TV sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.

Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film, Memphis Belle, in 1990. He played a serial killer in Copycat in 1995, before being cast as jet fighter pilot in the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. Connick's first role as a leading man was in 1998's Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock. His first thriller film since Copycat came in 2007, when he played the violent ex-husband in Bug, before two romantic comedies, 2007's P.S. I Love You, and the leading man in New in Town with Renée Zellweger in 2009.

Joshua Bishop "Josh" Kelley (born January 30, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Kelley has recorded for Hollywood Records, Threshold Records and DNK Records as a pop rock artist, and has had four hit singles on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. His songs "Amazing" and "Only You" made top ten on that chart.

In 2010, Kelley signed to MCA Nashville and began a country music career. His debut single on the format, "Georgia Clay", became a Top 20 hit on the Hot Country Songs charts. Kelley is the brother of Lady Antebellum member Charles Kelley. Kelley is married to actress Katherine Heigl.

Kelley was born in Augusta, Georgia, the son of Gayle and Dr. John W. Kelley, a cardiologist. Kelley began his musical career at the age of 11. His younger brother, Charles Kelley, is also a musician and singer in the country trio Lady Antebellum. Kelley started at 11 with his guitar. While he was a teenager, he and his brother Charles formed a band called Inside Blue. By the time he was 14, the band released a CD with five songs in it, which led to a meeting with James Brown. Kelley played the guitar in the high school jazz band alongside his brother Charles (drums) and Dave Haywood (guitar) from Lady Antebellum.

Worm Quartet is a one-man (Timothy F. Crist, A.K.A. -=ShoEboX=-) Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento show. Worm Quartet's music, all written by Crist, is characterized by wild logorrhea, taking words that might never have been in the same sentence before and forming odd images that flash past the listener's ears but remain imprinted on their engrams. His sophomoric sense of humor is occasionally tempered by outrage or satirical criticism. Worm Quartet had the #1 Most Requested Song of the Year on the Dr. Demento Show in 2004 (Great Idea For A Song) and 2005 (Inner Voice with Sudden Death). He has additionally collaborated with Rob Balder under the name "Baldbox" to release one CD ("The Dumb Album") and several followup songs, which have also been played frequently by Dr. Demento and other terrestrial radio shows.

The four worms (then Bob, Leon, Rodney, and Celia) were first created by Tim during a high school science class period in an attempt to alleviate boredom and amuse a friend named Frankie. The original four worms were depicted at various times singing songs with 'unbelievably dumb' lyrics or on mock record covers for such classic as Worm Quartet Sings The Songs Of Barry Manilow While Puking And Pissing On Lobsters.