CatBusRuss was too worn out to catch the "Josie and the Pussycats" reunion panel with Rachel Leigh Cook & Tara Reid, but he still had a handful of "I Dig Crazy Flicks" buttons to give out, so he made it to day three of GalaxyCon Des Moines. Just in time to catch the Q&A with Brian O'Halloran⁠ the star of "Clerks".

This was an insightful panel where our host was impressed about how active he is in film and television, and every actor's fascination with Jason Mewes. It also gave CatBus a sound byte to open this episode with. If Russ is not tempting the Hollywood big wigs to start sending out cease and desist letters, is he putting enough effort in promoting this podcast?

Our host also ran into Jess McCord at that panel and the two stuck around to check out the "Inglourious Treksperts" panel/podcast recording with Bret Spiner. It was a fun panel that pretty much ignored the series and films that are the actor's claim to fame, "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

With October coming up, CatBus has been trying to figure out when to release all of his banked podcasts/panels (Hopefully to coincide with Spooky Month). While he was figuring out that schedule, he decided to post up a review for the latest feature from Dario Argento, "Dark Glasses". Russ is going to be on Jamie Ray's "Fave Five from Fans" podcast where the two will discuss all elements of the Italian auteur's career some Friday in the upcoming weeks, until it doesn't.

CatBusRuss may have missed the "Speed Friending" event as he recovered from the stress of making it to day one of GalaxyCon Des Moines (Never mind the stress of his personal dramas.), but he worked his promotional butt off and is damn near out of the con's "I Dig Crazy Flicks" buttons. This is thanks to the help of Jess McCord of the tabletop RPG "Skies of Fortune". The two guested on each others' panels respectively and had so much fun, Russ nearly lost his Yeti microphone.

But ThePoeticCritic may think that is justified because he was in a rush to get to see his first John Barrowman panel. It was a fun show, but Barrowman's lack of humbleness leads our host to believe he getting paid way too much to frolic around and curse at conventions. If only the appreciative Karen Gillan's panel would have followed his instead, CatBus may have felt better about his love for the country that is cool with the C-word.

Russ also had fun running into some familiar faces from his travels this year, and if it was not for his hard out, Darby Harn from ScreenRant (Check him out on the "The Last Jedi" episode.) would have had him as a guest on his "Humanity of Superman" panel. Perchance this professional nerd gig may pay off for this kid from Peoria.

Barry Bostwick debuts "Making Megaforce", a documentary/love letter about a bomb of his from 1982.

Standout Adult Swim actors MC Chris & Dana Snyder gain a learning experience from their first attempt to record their podcast, "None of This Matters".

Out podcast host learns he may have to keep up with what the kids love after a well conceived panel, "Eternal Love: Vampire Media Renaissance", out draws those celebrities.

CatBusRuss is putting up his best fight to keep pushing "I Dig Crazy Flicks" to recognition. There has been a lot of drama in his life recently with the state of Illinois, a sibling who is not as cool as ThePoeticCritic, and losing his primary job due to a typing error. That is a lot of stress to leave at home for a short notice opportunity to take part in GalaxyCon Des Moines 2025.

This resulted in a tougher drive to a new convention center which took half an hour to figure out the layout of. No time for the show floor, so the panels better deliver. Thankfully, they have, and he had a decent sized audience for the 1985 Triple Threat Rematch. Things may finally be looking up for the CatBus.

CatBusRuss was able to participate in a lot of panels at ATL Comic Convention for movies that he loves, but one of those panels was for a feature not enough people have seen. He was honored to get to chat with the co-creator of the comic "Blood Orange", Tim Avers about Rian Johnson's 2005 debut feature, "Brick". Hopefully, the two were able to convince those who were early for the anime voice actor panel that followed them that they were missing out on a classic.

There was no audience to start, but since the two had a movie that they both adore, who needed them. Johnson sold this story as "A Detective Story", but if you were combing the aisles of Blockbuster in 2005, was Joseph Gordon-Levitt name enough to get you to rent this flick? CatBus really thinks that the ad campaign for this Sundance darling should have really pushed that this is film noir for high schoolers. Both panelist agree that this is a feature that soon-to-be freshmen should watch to better understand the drama of high school.

At ATL Comic Convention, CatBusRuss attempted to hold his own with "Star Wars" experts by being a panelist on "20 Years of Revenge of the Sith". He seemed to have held his own when discussing "The Last Jedi", but this third prequel of the Skywalker Saga may have held a more personal place in the hearts of his fellow panelists.

CatBus was joined by the hosts of the "Full of Sith" podcast, Bryan Young (writer for StarWars.com) and Holly Frey (an executive producer for the iHeartRadio podcast network), and Maggie Lovitt (deputy editor at Collider). After their resumes, Russ acknowledged that he may have only been on the panel for the hot takes. Since he is a pro-35mm film fan and his topical comparisons to current events in the 2nd Trump administration were shutdown, perhaps he served his role.

He felt like he was up against the cult of Lucas, but he could not help but admire the passion for the sixth best "Star Wars" feature (per Screen Drafts). Is the CatBus just another jaded, childless Gen Xer?

CatBusRuss may still be recovering from Fan Expo Chicago 2025. At 45 years-old, jumping into foam-sword combat for 45 minutes was too much since its been six years since his brief indoor soccer return, but not getting to contribute to the convention still pains him as well. Then again, you get to hear the nicest question John Cena has ever been asked in this episode, so he may have still won the weekend.

Our host could not have much to do on the final day at the convention. He had to handle all the hotel terms and baggage for the stays he and ThePoeticCritic had, so he was not going to make the early panels. Shopping was something he did not want to do for the majority of the day, but fortunately, there are holidays, nieces, and nephew to look forward to pleasing. Was too much money spent? Of course, but that is the price of being the cool uncle. He cannot wait to provide them with Geek Punk Store apparel to make sure they are the coolest kids in a small, conservative town with 37 churches.

Fortunately, rocking out to Galactic Empire the night prior and Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen being super cool made up for Russ not getting to take part as a panelist...mostly. It is still tough for him to shake the feeling that Fan Expo cares more about the commercialism than the fans' experience with each other.

If you are a like minded fan, CatBus provides you a break from his convention ranting with a review for "Red Lips", a 1995 lesbian-vampire movie that may have been a mockbuster to Abel Ferrara's "The Addiction". After that watch, our host is ready for the next Vinegar Syndrome sale.

Is it a good thing when a comic convention encourages one to sleep in? As long as the best content is available to a rested podcaster (at the price of $40), CatBusRuss shan't complain.

Our host did not watch "Suits", so he may not have been the best audience member for only knowing Rick Hoffman from "Hostel" and "The Condemned", so his primary goal was to capture the "Hooked on a Feeling with the Cast of Guardians of the Galaxy: Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, and Michale Rooker" panel. He was kind of let down that they kept the Rook confined to a chair, but how could you not have fun with such talent?

After a blah visit to the show floor, CatBus patiently waited an extra 35 minutes in the query queue for John Cena. He may have been the only one to ask the 17-time world champion an acting question. Thus, he will count that as a W.

And he needed a W as Bootleg Safari topped wicked "Simpsons" masks with the terror of Bruno Mattei's "Terminator 2". Fun was had. Knowledge of the Canadian tax shelter was gained. But reliving any element of that nightmare may have been too much for our host.

So, CatBus fondly remembers his experience watching "Cyber Vengeance", to get over the Italian trauma.