Dear Governor Scott Walker,

At this point, assessing your level of idiocy is not only logical but also relevant. I usually try not to resort to petty name-calling, for ultimately it undermines my argument and overhadows my main points. However, Scott Walker you are dumb.  When I got wind that you were attempting to pass a budget eliminating the right of collective bargaining for public sector workers, I was confused. First I was confused how someone like you ever got elected to this post and then become confused because someone out there in the universe must have affirmed your radical decision and dutifully told you that it would fix the budget. Here are just a few of the reasons why you are so dumb:

(1) During the Super bowl, producers edited video montages outlining the industrial history of Green bay and Pittsburg - Green bay for meat packing and Pittsburg for their steel factories. Inspirational music played in the background as a narrator outlined the patriotic-ness of these two cities and the power of hard-work and what it may accomplish ... oh and by the way Scott Walker, if you were unaware the Green bay PACKERS won the superbowl. Way to eff that up.

(2) Your plan also calls for the separation of UW-Madison, a Big Ten University - from the rest of the UW-System. The UW-System is comprised of 26 schools - both 2 and 4 year institutions. Removing UW-Madison from the rest of the system would have detrimental effects on the rest of the campuses. The other 25 schools would have to suffer budget cuts, lose the political clout of having UW-Madison as part of the system, and make it more difficult for students to transfer to UW-Madison, thus denying students educational opportunities and experiences.

(3) 14 brave and admirable Democratic Senators have fled the state ... literally fled the state ... in order to prevent quorum and thus delaying the vote on the budget. Known as the "Fab 14", these senators are believed to be hiding out in Illinois. Instead of this serving as a warning to Governor Walker that perhaps he needs to rethink this whole eliminate-the-rights-of-the-individual-thing, he is using every measure he can, to bring the Senators back. His brilliant plan to bring the Senators home; stop the direct deposits of their paycheck thus forcing them to come back to the state should they wish to be paid.

So Mr. Walker, could you do everyone a favor and please remove yourself from office, say "my bad", and then retire to some ridiculously remote countryside vacation home where we don't hear from you for 15 years. At that point, feel free to release a biography of your experiences, entitled, oddly enough, "My Bad: a Tale of Stupidity and Douchebaggery". K thanks.

Love Ginger

P.S. I happen to have a good friend named Scott Walker, so if you could change your name while you are at it, that would be great.

As a former Wisconsin resident and proud Badger alumni, it pains me that I am not there at the moment, but alas, I - along with the rest of the world - can only sit back and watch the situation unfold. For those of you who have not been paying attention to the news, Wisconsin is currently embroiled in a heated political battle over Republican Governor Scott Walker's blatant douchebaggery and his attempt to strip unions - and public sector workers - of their collective bargaining power. Wisconsin has been a pioneer in the pro-labor movement for the past century and Walker's bill to strip workers of their rights is both shocking and unpopular to say the least. Walker is resisting any form of compromise, citing that we are a broke state and therefore have to deal with the consequences for our brokeness - mind you the "tool" states this amidst rumors of him siphoning out money to his campaign contributors. Walker also has his National Guard on standby should the peaceful protesters and their "liberal lies and agenda" need to be subdued.  Here is a Huffington Post articleoutlining the timeline for the past 10 days of this protest - a protest that has drawn thousands from all over the state and region. Apparently, other states are looking to Walker's dumb attempt at totalitarianism to see how it pans out for them, before moving forward. Such was the case with the marriage equality battle that occurred only a few years ago. Hopefully, social equity and justice will prevail from this encounter, instead of conservative and Republican think-tanks scaring the citizens of Wisconsin into believing that eliminating the rights of workers is in their best interest.

So unfortunately I could not be in Wisconsin at the moment to support my fellow protesters - and I have been jonesing for a good protest. However, at our most recent improv show on Saturday I was able to give an impromptu rant about Wisconsin and the sheer idiocy of Scott Walker. Even though it is small, this is my contribution to the on-going protests occurring at the Capital.

So to all my Wisconsin friends and allies, I say thank you for standing up for the rights of the individual and not letting the tyranny of one dominate. As one of our right songs so epically states;

" U-rah-rah! Wisconsin!
Praise to thee we sing
Praise to thee our Alma Mater
U-rah-rah, Wisconsin!"

Check out the video below and make sure to visit The Utility Players website for more hilarious videos and photos.

Most of the time I am not sure when the Super bowl is, let alone have an intense desire to watch the Super bowl. However this year is different. My team, the Green Bay Packers, is headed to the Super bowl and is going to decimate the field with the Pittsburg Steelers. Now by my team, I mean I haven’t watched a single game all season, but I went to college in Wisconsin and therefore have a lifelong loyalty to the cheese heads.  Aside from cheering my team on to victory, I am looking forward to beefy refrigerator like men in uniform smashing into each other for four hours, entertained by hilarious commercials, and ultimately I’m looking forward to have a justifiable reason to overindulge myself on fried fatty foods. I spent time last night devising an ideal menu for game day. Of course, paying homage to our Wisconsin roots, we are breaking out the grill and serving up some good ole fashioned brats. I also thought I would break out one of my killer appetizers - mainly because one bite will clog your arteries- my spinach artichoke dip. The last part of the menu came to me during a feverish hunger dream where I fantasized about a mound - dare I say pyramid - of chicken nuggets surrounded by 12 different flavorful dipping sauces to appeal to all tastes.    

Of course, what I am looking forward to most is the return of GLEE. The popular FOX show, which is in the midst of their second season, has been on hiatus for the past two months. They triumphantly return this evening with a "super bowl" special episode entitled "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle". As usual, Sue Sylvester is constantly trying to up the ante on her Cheerios routines. She incorporates purple wigs into the show - perfect for a Katy Perry number no? - guys on motorcycles, and hula hoops. None of these added elements impress Sue, so she gets the idea to shoot Britney out of a cannon. Katie Couric is scheduled to make a guest appearance to interview the Cheerios coach. Some of the numbers planned for this episode include a massive "Thriller" dance on the football field, Destinys Child's "Bills Bills Bills" performed by the Warblers and fabulously hot Darren Criss, and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now". I am excited for the return of GLEE and how they intend to wrap up this latest season. Will Kurt stay with the Warblers or will he switch sides once again to lead New Directions to victory? Will Kurt get with the adorable Blaine or the hunky testosterone spewing closeted bully Dave? Will John Stamos ever return for another episode? I have appreciated the plot direction that writers have taken. However I noticed that though the plot lacked consistency and authenticity in the first season, the musical numbers rocked. In this second season, the plot has captivated me far more then many of the musical numbers. In the past few episodes the musical numbers have been few and far between and often have nothing to do with an overall theme. Ultimately I enter the rest of the season with an open mind; I just hope they don't actually follow through on the Justin Bieber themed episode of GLEE. 

 Now, when it is negative 20 degrees in the great Midwestern state of Wisconsin you do not feel like doing very much of anything except for hibernating in your apartment, drinking vast quantities of beer, and praying for the most recent blizzard to blow over. The other thing we Midwesterners like to do is eat, especially after drinking vast quantities of beer.

After one particularly self-indulgent night, one of my best friends Derek introduced me to this takeout place called "Fat Sandwich Company". Intrigued by the title, we checked out the menu and found such disturbing and alarming sandwich options as the Fat Mess - the one I got -, the Fat MILF, and the Fat WalkofShame. All of these sandwiches have one thing in common in that it's the fastest way to a heart attack .... oh and they all incorporate some sort of fried fried fried deliciousness into the sandwich. For example, the Fat Mess, has the following ingredients:

Mozzarella sticks, Jalapeno Poppers, Fried Mushrooms, Mac N' Cheese Bites, Pizza Bites, Ranch, and BBQ Sauce

My cup runeth over. It's every hung over/stoner person's dream. My favorite friend fatty foods combined into one sandwich covered in frenchfries. You just can't find food like this here in Reno. Granted we do live in the land of buffets but still it's not the same as living in the land of cheese curds and Wisconsin Cheese Beer Soup.   

I am a little slow on the uptake - though the information was released Sunday night & after the victory against Northwestern, a sure thing - but I heard this morning that Wisconsin is heading to the sacred Rose Bowl. It might have also taken me this long to find out because I don't really watch football .... at all, or watch it in any capacity. Growing up in Detroit I had the Lions to watch for a professional team - who consistently left us disappointed with tears in our eyes. Beyond that my mother and father attended MSU and U of M respectfully and therefore out of principal, cannot like the Spartans or the Wolverines.

Living in Wisconsin there was this expectation that you were a Greenbay Packer fan and a Badger fan. If you weren't, you risked your life everyday you continued to live in that state. When Brett Farve left for Minnesota, I cared only as much as I needed to in order to not draw attention to myself, be forced to answer any questions, or have to potentially run from an angry mob. Also, while I was at the University of Wisconsin, we struggled to have a football season where we did anything worthwhile. Our last appearance at the Rose Bowl was in 2000 when we beat Stanford and since then there has been murmurs and potential opportunities for us to go to the Rose Bowl, but invariably we would screw it up at some point.  The running pattern for the football team during my time at UW was our quarterback's inability to throw/complete a pass. We would go nuts every time he did - as if we had just won the game. Now we are heading to the Rose Bowl to face #3 ranked TCU. Although I am so excited for the Badgers to go to the Rose Bowl part of me is pissed that it happened the year I no longer live in the state of Wisconsin.

As I was doing more and more research about the Badgers I came across an article from the school newspaper. Apparently, when the announcement was made eager students rushed to secure themselves one of the 5,000 or so tickets made available to the University - they sold out within 20 minutes. Once they sold out, a flurry of offers started appearing on facebook. This caused quite a bit of frustration - especially amongst the students who did not get tickets - and people felt that it was unfair that individuals were purchasing tickets for the sole intention of re-selling - welcome to Capitalism :). So in response, The Badger Herald - one of our student newspapers - decided to write this scathing article about what happened and even posted the names of 30 or so students who were believed to have engaged in such reprehensible behavior. Since the article was published, those 30 individuals have been harassed and bullied - devastatingly it turns out that some of them were falsely charged and were selling tickets because they couldn't afford to go or couldn't get enough tickets for friends. I just can't believe that something like this happened all over Rose Bowl tickets .... however I have seen queens commit acts of murder and ruin perfectly good weaves all for Lady Gaga tickets, so I guess I could see it. Check out the article from the Daily Cardinal - the rival newspaper - who was all too happy to write about what happened.