I pondered this a little too hard after listening to an episode of the Perfect Organism podcast on YouTube, specifically, an episode where they discussed what makes the characters in Aliens unforgettable. In short, I wasn't impressed due to the sheer irony throughout the hour and eighteen minutes of this episode; characters' names were being mixed up left and right (personal favorite was "Wierzbowski giving Vasquez a high-five after the 'ever mistaken for a man?' line," because I kinda wanted to throw something out the window), and the most irritating was toward the end, where they're talking about favorite character moments, and they're trying to figure out who was talking to Bishop in the medlab.

Mentally, I was saying, "Spunkmeyer . . . Spunkmeyer . . . For the love of God, it was Spunkmeyer!"

They did eventually say Spunkmeyer, but not after roughly thirty seconds of saying random names in effort to jog memories.

Aside from Aliens Legacy, I have found numerous instances where Spunkmeyer is forgotten and/or ignored. Fan-made posters that include everyone (including our favorite quiet guys, Wierzbowski and Crowe) except Spunkmeyer, the vast majority of powerloader-related content doesn't even mention him, and except for the time Corporal Hicks on AvPGalaxy interviewed Daniel Kash, I haven't seen very much love for Spunkmeyer on that website.

So, why do you think most fans forget or ignore Spunkmeyer?

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Amen, SailingRabbit! I had the honor of meeting Daniel Kash last year (along with many other Aliens cast-members) at Fan-Boy Expo. Every cast-member that I had the pleasure of meeting was an absolute delight to talk to, and honestly one of the highlights of my life up until now.

Mr. Kash, however, was one of the highlights of that highlight - he was absolutely hilarious to talk to, had many great insights into the filming of Aliens, and seemed genuinely happy, eager even, to talk with me. I think I got to talk to him for about ten minutes even, since - sadly - there was nobody else in his line at the time. If he's ever within driving distance of central Kentucky again, I will make all possible effort to speak with him again - the man is a total class act. (And will have you spewing your drink out of your nose with laughter - be warned...)

Spunkmeyer who?

Because they are sheep!!!

I kid of course. In all seriousness probably because his contribution was the epitome of grunt work. His job as copilot was the second coolest job on the drop ship (out of 2 jobs). His job of working the power loader made him the 2nd coolest person on a power loader (behind ripley). He wasn't overly 'cool/good looking' to give him a distinguishing look. He didn't carry a cool gun and the only bit of unique equipment he had (the gunner sight on his helmet) was relegated to the background. His most memorable contributions of dialogue were at breakfast, where it would be easy to lose him in a crowd, and asking Bishop if he needed anything while pushing around boxes on a dolly. In this crowd (the cast), if you weren't talking trash or shooting big guns it is easy to be overlooked.

Alas, poor Spunkmeyer. He was doomed to be overshadowed from the start, but while not "sexy", he was certainly vital. Contributions from 'real' characters like him doing the grunt work really bring the world to life. Some of us just have to load that ordinance, carry those boxes, sit in the back seat and watch our monitor. If we are lucky we get to make a smartass comment from time to time.

The realness of this summarization is 11/10, nice job!

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Lt. Melissa L. Klassen, ALG
AL Colonial Admin. - Executive Officer (XO) -- 2021-2022
RCCM | Royal Canadian Colonial Marines - Commanding Officer (CO) -- 2021-2022

Read the AL Charter Rules & Regulations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3gd9QUyIqI_6rfk8kpxspbKU-JT4MBAjLPxfCkvGJ8

I actually had a dream a while back depicting a similar scenario. Weird.



I dunno, I found it hard not to fall in love with the scruffiness, haha.



Privately, I'd think this would earn him a little more respect, but you have to be acknowledged first, and not pushed aside by the part of the fanbase that calls you "cannon fodder" all the time.

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There are three main reasons people forget Spunky... and both are of his own doing.

The first is that he was trying to appear innocuous, in the hope that people wouldn't realise he was in a heavy metal band.
The second is that he was busy being the uncle of a particularly problematic wizard.
The third is that, all his time, he has been secretly working on a protomolecule and didn't want to attract any attention.

I think of him all the time. Alllll the time. Every time I see an image of the dropship, I can hear Ferro saying that line about Spunkmeyer, which make me think of Spunkmeyer's last line as he boards the dropship.

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I ran some convention tabletop RPGs set in the Aliens universe and named all the marines in the game after actual soldiers from Utah that had died in the service. I wanted it to be a kind of homage. I found a fellow who crashed as a pilot named 'Nordmeyer', which made me immediately think of Spunkmeyer.

Daniel Kash was lovely to meet, we certainly never forget Spunkmeyer.

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A72/TQ6.6.95356E8





"I plan to live forever.........or die trying!"

This picture was so badass, my Gmail thought it was spam for some reason.

Seriously, though, it sounds like he's really approachable. And yet I'd still be anxious as all hell waiting in line to meet him.

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My son and I met him at the Knoxville Fanboy convention a couple of years ago. We went both days, but I don't think he could make Saturday because of a change in filming schedule in Canada (Vancouver I think). But still, he made the long trip for Sunday. He said he was tired with the last minute changes but he was still enthusiastic talking about his work and he and my son were chatting away. Great to meet him and get his autograph.

Spunkmeyer opens the door to piss and sets the whole shitshow in motion. His character is the oops buffoon. hes treats his job like its a fast food restaurant. nobody was advising the fuckoffs in the dropship besides to stand by (on purpose), they thought they had the easy job. hang out and shoot the shit until they could pick everyone up. He wasnt an interesting character besides that he was mysterious since he had no screen time or development, what you see of his demeanor was like the dude who works at USPS and gets caught throwing packages over the fence on video. When he sees bishop disecting a killer parasitic creature larger then a lobster hes like "cool pet", not a thinker and not afraid because he assumes the responsibility will always fall on someone else. That's why Id rather watch real grunts like Hicks. Spunkmeyer shoulda worked at starbucks or learned to shit in an amo can. The company put this crew together for a reason. He served his purpose. Hes in no way cool or interesting. He doesnt even die on camera. He comes off as completely naive and careless.

Couldn't agree more; my sole purchase from San Diego Comic Con:

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I have to ask, those of you that have met Kash, does he change his thought three different times per sentence while talking? I'm transcribing the interview he did with AvPGalaxy, and I've noticed he will not focus on one thing at a time for very long.

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