Semantic Nonsense: Hurricanes and Plumbers

Harvey Relief Done Quick… done quick

After one of the worst floodings in U.S. History (I say “after,” but even today waters are merely receding in many areas), our friends at Games Done Quick leaping into action with a hurry-up telethon on Twitch over Labor Day weekend.

Despite the organizers speed-running creating a charity event, they managed to pull in $225,000 for the Houston Food Bank.

I don’t have any reccomend speed runs this time, as I had to miss the online telethon and individual game videos have not been posted (yet?). However, that’s no excuse to not donate; Games Done Quick’s donation tracker is still taking donations until Friday.

And if you’re reading this after Friday, just remember: while Harvey Relief Done Quick is over, the disaster is not. Any donations of goods, services or cold hard cash will be sorely needed for months to come at minimum.

Finding a charity to donate to isn’t always easy. A lot of people have been weary at just how the money is used after the revelation after the devastating 2010 Hati earthquake that perennial favorite The Red Cross spent more than a quater of the $500 million it raised on overhead costs.

So, my best recommendation to you is to take a page from Games Done Quick’s book and donate to a local Texas charity, which presumably have lower overhead costs than an international organization and greater accountability to the people affected by Hurricane Harvey.

The New York Times posted a comprehensive list of local, national and global charities along with some pointers to avoid getting scammed. It’s a great place to get started, especially if you want to aim your donation at a particular need.

As for the speed runs, I’ll slip a few top picks in a future Semantic Nonsense once I’ve been able to watch them.

Leave the plumbing to Joe

So, the Internet is losing its collective mind over the de-emphasis (but NOT removal, clickbait headlines) of plumbing in Nintendo (of Japan)’s official biography.

Fox News was surprisingly grounded in its coverage of this apparent murder of childhoods (though other clickbait headlines would tell you otherwise).

Fox's Steve Doocy wonders if Nintendo is being "PC" because it says Mario isn't a plumber anymore. pic.twitter.com/BJ9ygXdkhP

— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) September 5, 2017

Seeing as this was covered by “Fox and Friends,” I’m holding my breath for the inevitable mention by President Donald Trump.

But as cooler heads than Twitter can provide could tell you, Mario has been job hopping ever since his original stint as a carpenter. In just his first decade as a temp worker, he was a carpenter, an animal trainer, a cement factory worker, a demolitionist, a golfer, referee for both tennis and boxing, F1 pit crew member, spaceship pilot, medical doctor… frankly, he’s got a more stuffed resume than Homer Simpson.

Mario isn’t a plumber “anymore?” He hasn’t been one since 1983. Nintendo describing him as a former plumber who is more interested in sports of late is about as unvarnished as the truth can get.

SNES Classic preorder deathwatch

My foreign preorder has yet to be canceled. With less than a month to go, the nail-biting has ramped up to 11.

Kit Kat of the week: Orange Cocktail Noir

The Orange Cocktail Noir by all accounts looks like an ordinary dark chocolate Kit Kat. When eating it, you get a jolt of citrus. It comes on quickly and sharply, then ebbs away. It’s very similar to a chocolate orange, as it probably should be.