When it comes to food stores, Chicago has always been dominated by Jewel. As a kid, I had the honor of cracking my head open in one of their stores, trailing blood up and down the aisles. Good times!

With the recent closure of Dominick's, it seems that Jewel-Osco has been repositioning themselves with an ad campaign that emphasizes they are "Here to Stay."

Logo change for Jewel-Osco

Additionally, they've been remodeling many of their stores, including some they purchased from Safeway/Dominick's. Many of these new look locations have been showcasing a more circular logo that is a departure from what we've seen on stores over the past few decades.

Vintage "Jewel Food Stores" logo

Curiously, the new oval shape harkens back to the early "Jewel Food Stores" logo used when the company was first founded.

Thanks to the merger of Resurrection Health Care and Provena Health, a hospital near us is being rebranded with the new "Presence Health" name.  However, based on the temporary signage, there may be some confusion as to what the hospital will actually be called.

Can you spot the difference?

Temporary Sign #1

Temporary Sign #2

The first Star Wars comic books were published by Marvel from 1977-1986. To help promote his film, George Lucas granted Marvel the Star Wars rights for free. The first 6 issues illustrated "A New Hope," but after that creative new stories were told (most of which have been determined to be "non-canon" today).

Issue #1: Marvel Original vs. Dark Horse Reprint

Dark Horse Comics picked up the Star Wars comics license in 1991 and has owned it ever since. Over the years, they've reprinted some of the older Marvel material, recoloring the material as needed.

Stan Lee vs. Lucasfilm

Probably to avoid trademark issues, these reprints have had their Marvel logos and other branding removed. There's even a case where the internal credits referenced Stan Lee, but now simply talk about Lucasfilm. One exception seems to be the cover of Issue #1, which features an art-based callout box at the bottom that still references "Marvel's epic official adaptation of the monumental 20th Century Fox movie!"

Of course, now the ironic part is that Disney owns both Marvel and Lucasfilm, so they are all part of the same family these days!

I was talking to a friend the other day about the new NBC Olympics logo, as well as the changes to Olympic events, such as wrestling being dropped from the Summer Games program as of 2020. This led to a discussion over "alternative" sporting events, such as those sponsored by Red Bull and, of course, ESPN's X Games franchise.

Original Logo (1995-2003) vs. Current Logo (2004-2013)

The broadcast logo fan in me started to dig into the branding for the X Games and unlike its Olympics counterpart, there haven't been many substantial changes to the X Games logos since the event debuted in 2005.

Original 1995 Extreme Games Logo

Aside from the name change (originally known as the Extreme Games), the biggest occurrence happened in 2004 with the adoption of the current "X" logo that is still used in today's events. 2003 was the final year of the vertically-biased X logo, which definitely has a dated 1990s look about it.

NBC has started their 1 year countdown to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. With it, they've released their broadcaster logo as well.

NBC Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Logo

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Back in November, I criticized the very existence of Banana Tootsie Pops. I thought it was only fair to take a look at a limited-edition holiday flavor, Candy Cane Tootsie Pops.

Candy Cane Tootsie Pop

The concept seems easy enough to understand. Candy Cane + Tootsie Roll on a stick. However, there's just something different about these products.

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Santa's Sequel Sellouts - December 7: It Runs in the Family (Overture)

Sequel to: A Christmas Story (Film, 1983)

Back in August, the Web was shocked to see a movie trailer for A Christmas Story 2, a follow-up to the 1983 classic. Many thought it was a joke… but nope, this straight-to-DVD film was slated for Christmas 2012. The marketing materials went out of their way to denote that this was "The Official Sequel" to the original film.

But that's a pretty big lie.

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Continuing a yearly tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

Halloween has come and gone… and so has It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Now that Turkey Day is soon upon us, why not revisit the special that doesn't get as much attention as its established Halloween and Christmas siblings, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

This episode first appeared on CBS back on November 20, 1973 and was the 9th primetime Peanuts special to air. Because its age is older than Christmas and Halloween, most of the voice talents are very different. Linus is voiced by the same person as in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, Stephen Shea… who incidentally was the younger brother of the guy who originally voiced Linus in the Christmas episode, Christopher Shea. The episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming.

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The other day Amy brought home a bag of Tootsie Pops. As many know, Tootsie Rolls are my favorite candy. However, as I dug into the bag, something odd was inside. A Banana Tootsie Pop? Who thought this was a good idea?

Banana Tootsie Pops

Sure enough, it was true. And after a taste, it was also gross.

I was hoping that this wasn't a permanent change. Back in 2004, the company rolled out new flavors: Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Strawberry. In 2006, Lemon Lime was added, then Caramel in 2007. However, it seems like these were short-term additions, as they can no longer be found today.

Per the official Tootsie website, "the original five-flavor mix — Chocolate, Cherry, Orange, Grape and Raspberry — has been expanded to include a new sixth flavor that alternates among Pomegranate, Banana, and now Blueberry flavored hard candy."

I've had the Pomegranate. It's not bad. Haven't found Blueberry yet. But I can confirm that you should avoid any bags containing Banana.

As I mentioned on Twitter, "Banana Tootsie Pops are the reason vomiting was invented."

Continuing a yearly tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

With Tuesday being Election Day here in the United States, I'm happy to share audio from another Peanuts special, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

1972's "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown"

This episode debuted on CBS on October 29, 1972. Unlike the "classic 3" Peanuts television specials (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), this episode features different voice talent and a distinctly 1970s vibe. As such, I think it's missing a bit of "heart" when compared to the more popular specials.

Linus ponders the student body presidency

The plotline focuses on Linus running for student body president at his school. During his campaign, he mentions the Great Pumpkin… and I'll let you figure out what happens after that. Because of that topic, this episode is often aired with the classic Great Pumpkin Halloween episode.  It's was bundled with the Halloween special on 2000 DVD release. Later, in 2008, You're Not Elected received its own DVD release as the featured title.

The Big Speech!

Unlike the previously-shared "made for LP" version of a TV special, this is just the audio from the show itself, so some of the scenes that are visually-based might not translate well. But hey, it's Peanuts and it's Election Day, so why not!

As a special Election Week feature, you can download this audio in MP3 format… but once the ballots are all counted, it's gone. Enjoy!

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