The 2014 State Fair of Texas may be a long way off, but the elves has already hatched a theme: Deep in the Heart of Texans. This year's exposition will run from September 26 to October 19.

The logo seems a tiny bit painful if you like your heart to be beating and feel leery around Ted Nugent, black rhino hunters, or bows and arrows of any kind. It shows a map of the state of Texas with the major highways in red, like blood veins. At the center is a red heart with an arrow through it. Has the theme committee been watching Game of Thrones?

But here's a cheerful quote: "For generations, the State Fair of Texas has been the destination to bring all Texans together,” said fair VP Mitchell Glieber in a release. Yeah, bring all Texans together to the cardiac unit at Medical City Dallas.

This year's theme is definitely more gory than 2013's geriatric "The One & Only" or 2012's more attractively logo'd neon "Big and Bright."

New features for 2014 include a Texas Sports Hall of Fame exhibition in the Hall of State. Visiting from Waco exclusively for the fair’s run, the attraction will showcase memorabilia from Texas sports legends recognized since the hall of fame’s start in 1951.

The fair has also partnered with Canstruction to showcase giant arrangements built with cans of food. At the end of the State Fair, the cans will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank.

Cotton Bowl stadium will host two games: The Grambling State Tigers will play the Prairie View A&M Panthers on September 27, and the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will play on October 11 in the annual Red River Rivalry.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Fair’s Big Tex Choice Awards contest. There will only be another 150 days or so before that announcement is made.