Nothing gets past eagle-eyed audiences who are all too eager to share the latest TV or movie gaffe on social media.
Remember when Game of Thrones fans noticed the anachronistic chalice in the form of a Starbucks cup left in plain sight?
Another bungle just surfaced, but this time the recent discovery was from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
It turns out that lightsaber Luke Skywalker was wielding in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was apparently an import from the planet earth.
Uproxx noted that Pablo Hidalgo – a Lucasfilm executive on the Star Wars franchise – tweeted about his discovery from the 1980 Star Wars sequel.
It was an innocuous tweet at first.
"I've noted this before, but every time I watch a 'Star Wars' movie, there's something new to notice. Especially if I'm fortunate to catch it on the big screen."
And then he shared his jarring revelation with juxtaposed images of Luke's lightsaber.
"This latest discovery? that 'NEW YORK' is visible on the bottom of Luke's lightsaber in EMPIRE."
The image on the left was pulled from the movie with a barely-visible "New York" written on the bottom of the lightsaber. On the right is an image of the actual naked prop from the film before the etchings were buffed out and other pieces were added.
@pablohidalgo Huh, it I guess it really is the *Empire* State https://t.co/6IyE9Ha6wI— Ben Hower (@Ben Hower)1560914825.0
Can you see it?
I've noted this before, but every time I watch a Star Wars movie, there's something new to notice. Especially if I'… https://t.co/3ybgHkIxLO— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560914321.0
It may take a lot of effort to even notice, but it is there.
@pablohidalgo I love that this will probably drive someone insane— Anthony (@Anthony)1560914956.0
@pablohidalgo By visible you mean blown way up and with real squinty eyes you can barely make it out? Hey you're right!— Opening Crawl (@Opening Crawl)1560930666.0
@Jcjpl (On the big screen it can be seen; though of course, it took about 40 years for me to notice)— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560951780.0
Uproxx's Josh Kurrp said the only link he could find between Luke's lightsaber and New York was the sound designer making recordings for The Empire Strikes Back during a family visit.
"[Sound designer] Ben Burtt recorded sounds of people in snow while visiting his family in upstate New York, which were used for the Hoth scenes."
With its universal appeal, it's hard to believe ardent fans of Star Wars missed the marking.
Although to be fair, the etching is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for.
It stands to reason then that Hidalgo, who has probably seen the movie a hundred times, was the first to notice the goof.
@pablohidalgo Visible, but not legible.— Shayn Mikel (@Shayn Mikel)1560920631.0
@Shayn_Mikel It is at the right resolution.— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560921186.0
ComicBook weighed in with their thoughts on the discovery.
"This is a very small error, and hard to even notice if you aren't looking forward. It's honestly surprising that Hidalgo even found it in the first place."
"Then again, with as closely as 'Star Wars' fans have watched these movies over the years, it's hard to believe it took this long for someone to see it."
The fictional energy sword is used in combat by the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts. The luminescent blade consists of magnetically contained plasma that shoots from a metal hilt that was, well, not manufactured in New York.
Special effects expert John Stears created the prop by re-purposing various pieces of hardware, including Graflex press camera flash battery packs.
@pablohidalgo Is Graflex a prop company?— Greg, Know Your Cuts of Meat Champion - 2006 (@Greg, Know Your Cuts of Meat Champion - 2006)1560914453.0
In the photo on the right from Hidalgo's tweet, you can clearly see the word "Graflex" stamped at the base of the hilt, signifying the handles from the Graflex flash gun retrieved by set decorator Roger Christian.
@Money_Moose Graflex made the old camera flash holder that the lightsaber was built out of. https://t.co/PqaGkzXAVi— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560914701.0
@pablohidalgo @Money_Moose In the saber-building community people refer to that saber as a “Graflex” on its own. I… https://t.co/qPjdyRxUaN— Eric Strothers (@Eric Strothers)1560915014.0
@pablohidalgo Folmer Graflex Corp. (later just Graflex, Inc., and formerly a division of Kodak) was on Clarissa Str… https://t.co/p7xoF9JbyA— Eric Stevens (@Eric Stevens)1561040482.0
Don't mess with the Star Wars-obsessed. If you attempt to challenge them on trivia you may find yourself sinking into the Sarlacc Pit.
@Sturmwolken1 @pablohidalgo Haha! Well, the Graflex flashgun used to make the lightsaber in IV, V, VII, and VIII co… https://t.co/ZxWyeoDUeH— Jay Ingram (Charlemagne) (@Jay Ingram (Charlemagne))1560914944.0
@cube_joe @pablohidalgo Yep! It's the only shot that lets us know which one of the variant of Graflexs was used in… https://t.co/CMllmhJ7MG— George Swain (@George Swain)1560930522.0
If you claim to be a true Star Wars aficionado and don't have any knowledge of the following, you're bantha fodder.
@pablohidalgo Oh my friend you are perched on the precipice of a deep and wonderful rabbit hole. Folmer Graflex fla… https://t.co/wDzRgkvuls— Michael Shane (@Michael Shane)1560998184.0
@pablohidalgo No ESB lightsaber is considered screen accurate without it! ANH sabers also usually use a Folmer vari… https://t.co/xZdwhDrwUl— Michael Shane (@Michael Shane)1560998320.0
@JayKingIngram @GraflexBank @Sturmwolken1 @pablohidalgo I’m glad I found someone who is as picky about lightsaber h… https://t.co/0JHSa4OB1F— Emperor Palpamemes (@Emperor Palpamemes)1560925104.0
@pablohidalgo George had it changed to Aurabesh for the blu-ray release.— Brandon Bird (@Brandon Bird)1560918388.0
Oh Starbucks, why did you meddle with this Sci-Fi movie from 1977?
@pablohidalgo Let’s not forget the Starbucks incident of ‘77. https://t.co/qFfOzNvhgY— Blue Milk On The Rocks (@Blue Milk On The Rocks)1560948205.0
Why NYC?
@pablohidalgo That's because the spirit of New York is intergalactic— Jennifer Heddle (@Jennifer Heddle)1560926445.0
@pablohidalgo NEW YORK IS CANON— Ryan (@Ryan)1560922578.0
@pablohidalgo I don’t own much Star Wars merchandise these days, but I do love my WIP New York flashlight. https://t.co/Yf3ArMhkFE— Sebastian Boyle (@Sebastian Boyle)1560977857.0
@pablohidalgo New York is just an old weapons manufacturing planet on the Outer Rim. 🤷🏻♂️— Sir Gumbeaux (@Sir Gumbeaux)1561048601.0
@pablohidalgo @pablohidalgo dude that is New York, Tatooine. How did you not know that three hundred miles from Mos… https://t.co/ereU28FmI0— Colin J Lewis (@Colin J Lewis)1561076346.0
There you have it.
After 39 years since The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters, there is nothing more shocking than seeing "New York" on a lightsaber, forcing us to come to grips with reality.
You can relive Star Wars Episodes I-VI in one go with the complete set, available here. Maybe you'll see something you never noticed before.
There are a ton of jobs or favors that don't require much skill, experience, or labor, and people who are fortunate enough to get hired walk away with a king's ransom.
Looking for those kinds of "jobs," however, is like finding a teardrop in the ocean.
Few who struck gold, at least temporarily, shared their experiences when Redditor NikTheNerdBoy asked:
"What's the dumbest thing you were paid to do and how much were you paid?"
Good luck finding these well-paying tasks.
Running Errands
"Had a WFH gig working sort of as a personal assistant for a rich guy on the opposite coast from me. I did all kinds of wacky sh*t for him. For example, one time I had to break up with my boss's girlfriend because he was too wimpy to do it himself. That was literally my job."
"One day, I bought him a new pickup truck. Meaning, I negotiated the deal and paid for the truck with his credit card. All in all, I'd say the process probably took about two weeks, for which I was paid my usual wage at six hours per day. No big deal."
"Somehow, his dad found out about the new truck and he decided he wanted a new pickup truck too. He called me about a week after I bought the truck for my boss and said he'd pay me $2,000 to buy a truck for him. I called the same dealership back, spoke to the same salesman, told him what was up and basically said give me another truck, same price as before. The salesman was only too happy to comply."
"It took ten minutes to make the phone call and then a day or two to get the title and other paperwork sorted out. So, depending on how you look at it, I made $2,000 for just ten minutes worth of 'work.'"
"Somehow, my boss's rich friend found out about all this. He decided he wanted a new SUV. 'OhYeahThrowItAway, you have to buy it for me!' I told him the last time I bought someone a vehicle, I got paid $2,000. The friend was basically like F'k it, I'll pay you $3,000, just get it for me' and then he emailed me his wish list."
"That deal took a little longer, maybe two weeks."
"I made $5k extra in just two months buying vehicles for lazy (or dumb) rich people."
Staying Out Of The Picture
"I was paid $300 to move my car for a movie that was filming by my apartment."
Pack It Up
"Got paid 10k to leave an apartment because it was sold and new owner wanted to move in. I was tenant (renter) under previous owner. I had 4 months left in my rental contract. This was in Spain (Barcelona)."
European Vacation
"I was flown to Paris to do a compliance audit, the systems weren't set up for the audit, couldn't get access so spent the week being taken to restaurants and shopping. On 1 of the days and at the last minute the company decided to send me to London for a meeting, literally just to meet people. I missed the Eurostar because I forgot my passport (totally blanked that I was entering another country), they had to rebook the Eurostar. Nothing was achieved out of this trip. No audit was completed. Nothing came of the meeting. The cost to the company 25k+ for me to do nothing for a week. Corporate money is ridiculous money."
Not much labor was required for these so-called "jobs."
Ten-Minutes Of "Work"
"I used to work for a PR agency. Every month one of our clients wanted a handful of photos re-sized for their website; nothing fancy, just setting the width to 500px in Windows Photo Manager."
"It was maybe ten minutes of work every month, but the contract said the minimum amount of time we would charge them for was one day - and this was for the full team too, not just me. It must have cost them several hundred pounds every month."
"I showed the client how to do it several times, and explained that they could save a lot of money doing it themselves. They didn't seem to mind."
"In the end I made sure I got it in writing that I'd informed them of their options and let them get on with it."
Thank You, Goodbye
"$175 to do some kind of user study at Netflix, I show up in the lobby and then they go, 'actually we got the data we needed from the studies earlier today, you're free to go!'. Still got paid!"
– Lycid
Hush Money
"I did an event for a national association for deaf people at which they did every presentation in ASL. I am an audio engineer, who specializes in live sound and concerts. I did nothing for 5 days of show, $450 a day."
– murter95
Paid To Play
"I got asked to do 2 hours of barrier watch (Guarding a barrier ribbon while a crew did x rays inside a power plant). This was asked last minute after a 12 hour shift so the bonuses of staying happening to be a Sunday, etc I was being paid $110 to stand and play on my phone and make sure sure nobody tried to pass all the DO NOT ENTER DANGER DANGER signs during a time of day with minimal personnel."
– Hotel29
Movie Scene Dance GIF by FandorGiphyGotta Have Wendy's
"I was driving for uber. Picked up a bunch of drunks at like 2 AM. They were like 'Yo we gotta grab some Wendy' I go 'I'm sorry this is my busy period' they go 'Can we bribe you?' I go 'Absolutely you can bribe me.'"
"One the guys said I'll give you $100...I was shocked it was that high, another guy said '$150' and finally his wife said 'F'k it I want Wendy $200 and we buy you Wendy too.'"
"I finally said yes, FYI I hadn't said yes yet because the reality is $20-$40 would have gotten me to stop at Wendy."
"So there I sat at Wendy as those 3 drunks bought me wendy and paid me $200."
Substitute Chef
"One time I was at this super fancy dinner party. I'm talking servers and everything, I was in a freaking tux! It was outside and catered by a professional bbq company. I mean these guys had won international competitions. Well get this, they were double booked and didn't show. The other servers didn't know how to grill, and this totally smokin server in her 30s is just staring at the grill like a deer in the headlights. Well I don't want to be a hero but I ask if I can help. The entire staff spend the rest of the night bringing me drinks as I make this bbq and NOBODY realizes the award winning chefs didn't show up!"
Where Do We Apply?
"Ok this wasn't a job or anything.... But I got 10$ to eat half a watermelon."
Some opportunities present themselves.
When I was a kid, I hung out at a Japanese summer festival booth where you roll a bowling ball on a track that had two hills. The objective was to push the ball hard enough to get it over the first hill but not too hard to get it over the second hill.
I was fascinated with the challenge and stayed there for a long time as my parents were over by the food booths with their friends.
It was a slow day, and the dude working the booth wanted to peace out for a bit, so he offered to pay me $50 to "hang out" in his stead.
Of course, I said "sure."
No one ever came, and I earned fifty bucks rolling bowling balls for an hour. Was it the dumbest thing I ever did for money? Maybe, but I laughed all the way to the piggy bank that day.
That guy really must have despised his post enough to give a twelve-year-old kid $50.
Food is for survival. That was the plan. But over the years it has become somewhat of a way of life. Some of the most annoying people are foodies. They get so uppity about the preferences of others. Like, let me just enjoy what I enjoy.
Mom No!
Mom Smile GIFGiphy"I don't like my mom's cooking."
"Livestock have refused to eat my mother's cooking. She's a terror in the kitchen."
Take them OUT!!
"I hate walnuts in baked goods. It tastes like wood shavings and completely ruins the flavor."
"I love walnuts but I feel this way about raisins in baked goods, raisins are fine by themselves but not in sweets, I once ordered cinnamon rolls at Hardee's and bit into it and found out there were raisins in it, and I was grossed out and didn't want to eat it. At least freakin' McDonald's serves real cinnamon rolls without freakn' raisins!"
The Fart Ingredient
"I don't like kidney beans except in chili."
"I don't even really like them in chili. I'd rather have pintos in everything."
Oh thew Crunch...
"Pickles and onion make the best sandwich. I make most of my own pickles from stuff I grow or get from local farms in the fall, but I responded to another comment with two different heinous concoctions I enjoy. Crunchy, salty, sour. I really like pickles and onions to begin with."
"I use more than pickled cucumber though. Like the last one I made, I used garlic naan, mayo, red onion, scallions, pickled garlic, green olives, Kalamata olives, garlic dill cucumber, and green beans. Shallot, sour pickled onion, sweet pickled cucumbers, and sushi ginger on sprouted 14 grain bread is also also a favorite of mine."
No Sizzle
bacon GIFGiphy"I do not like bacon."
"I've been learning this over the years. If I'm gonna do bacon I much prefer the maple bacon since it's sweeter and doesn't overpower with saltiness."
- truije15
Who doesn't like bacon? That seems like a sacrilege. Right? But to each their own. Though I will never understand not loving walnuts in comfort food. Y'all need more self love.
Love the Big M
"Fast food tastes amazing, yeah its unhealthy as hell but don't you sit there and lie and say it tastes bad."
"Pisses me off when people act like they're better then McDonald's. What the hell? McDonald's is incredible and billions of people buy their food still. The same can't be said for other restaurants."
Blasphemy!
golden girls flirting GIF by HULUGiphy"Cheesecake is disgusting."
"I don't find cheese cake disgusting. It looks good. Smell delicious. Has ingredients in it that I love. But i can not eat more than one bite. It is too rich. One bite and i feel sick."
Too Many Legs
"Lobsters and crabs are giant insects."
"I don't really think that's that controversial, in my area of the world we even call this creature a 'Moreton Bay Bug' even though some fisheries try to give it the more appealing name of 'flathead lobster'."
bad bones
"Boneless wings are vastly superior to bone-in wings. I think bone-in wings are a ripoff because when you get half a pound of them, part of that half-pound is inedible. It's like if you ordered a quarter-pound cheeseburger, but the restaurant considers the weight of the plate to be part of that quarter-pound and you end up with just a slider. Just give me some damn meat."
The Slime
man oyster GIFGiphy"Oysters are truly disgusting and absurdly overpriced for quarter sized pieces of snot that tastes like salt water and hot sauce."
- C_23_s
Ok, I'm trying to stay calm. I don't want to judge. But some of these opinions... are leaving me shook. Except the oysters. That is that work of the devil. Look away...
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