IL state budget wins award six years running? Is it like Field Day, when they give a ribbon to everybody?

A story: Gotta love Sam Hudzik’s story this morning on our state budget getting awards. Seriously, how does that happen? Sam tells you. It’s sort of like when you were a kid and you kept getting random trophies because your Dad’s friend was a trophy-maker. B story: The James Beard awards are out and two of ours have been nominated! Steve Dolinsky for his work at ABC-7 and Eight Forty-Eight was nominated for best food show! I might want to do a quick tutorial with the cats at Eight Forty-Eight, since I am a two-time James Beard award winner. No. Big. Deal. There used to be a video circulating around of me accepting an award in 1999. I’ll see if I can find it. This week’s live-chat show “The Lunchbox” will be about the food scene in Chi, talking about Beard nominees and other culinary insights from Chicago’s food media folk. This will be a dandy. Come be part of the convo, 12 noon tomorrow. C story: SXSW reviews and performances are piling up! We have a few more Pool Sessions (live performances from the pool at the La Quinta in Austin, TX) and wrap-ups from Althea Legaspi and Andrew Gill. Sports: The Illini won again last night. NIT Quarterfinals, here we come!!! Also, Derrick Rose and the University of Memphis have to give back all their conference championships and awards due to scandal. I’m sure Rose is crying himself to sleep. Good thing that scandal kept him from being the #1 pick in the NBA dra...oh wait. Kicker: We posted the sing-a-long from our CTA excursion this past weekend. Check it out - don’t you wish this could happen during your morning commute?