The
Third Eye Over Iowa
FAQUA

Is Third Eye Over Iowa still being published?

     No. We ceased printing and publishing the magazine with the Spring 1999 (vol.6, Issues #3-5).

     There are several reasons for this: our publisher lost interest in the magazine, refocusing his attentions on his first love, the theatre. Thereafter, he got married and moved to Virginia.

     Still, one staff writer moved to the northwest coast while another writer was struck with the tragic loss of his beloved wife.

     Hence, as staff participation evaporated, the magazine lapsed into a deep, dreamless coma. There have been some ichor-flecked attempts to resurrect it with a lively online version, but these have fizzled.

I am curious: is it possible you consider unsolicited submissions for publication? As a stalwart Iowan, deeply submersed and stewed in myriad factoids and worse, such an opportunity tickles me.

    As stated above: We're in a persistant vegitative state. (hmm..isn't that really what Iowa is, anyway? Sorry, I digress...)

What's a "zine mooching weasel"?

    The "Zine Mooching Weasel" is a snide dig at one of our dear friends who came to our writer's meetings, proposed great story ideas but never wrote or bought a subscription when 3rd-i was in print. He always mooched someone else's copy.

How did Third Eye Over Iowa start?

     The idea for a paranormal parody magazine came from Todd Ristau. He invited help from his long time friend, Vernon Trollinger, who had desktop publishing experience wth small publications. Together, they hammered out the basic context and general parameters of the magazine's mythos and the all important reader's caveat: BELIEVE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

     The first issue was printed in May, 1996 to an initial audience of about 25 people; who were mostly friends and relations of Todd Ristau. By sometime the followng winter, subscriptions had spiraled to about 65 nation wide and were almost near enough to pay the Kinko's printing costs! At the time, Fox's X-Files was nearly the peak of its popularity while the revolutionary brand-new World Wide Web gave conspiracy theoriststs the soap box of their dreams. They spouted on everything from Waco to Weather Control Satellites.

     The temptation to spoof emergent popular paranoia was overwhelming.

Aren't you really just hoaxers?

     A hoaxer was once upon a time defined as a practical joker. Nowadays, a hoaxer is someone who sets out to deliberately mislead, misinform, and maliciously maintain a deception.

     Of course, there are brilliant, serious discussions like this one. Skeptism is important, but if they had just taken a moment or so to read the piece and then Googled a few of the facts, much more would have been revealed.

     Re-read the Masthead: BELIEVE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Look at the Classified Ads section...then Google "Georg von Podebrad College". Nearly every single url returned will have yawp.com/3rd-i in it. What does that tell you? That GVP College ONLY exists in one place: Third Eye Over Iowa!

     We're not trying to hide that our stories are fiction. At worst, we're pulling your leg; not trying to tear out your kidney for the international organ-donor market.

     So, if we're hoaxers---then we're the clean, neatly dressed, old fashioned practical-joker-kind your mom in Ottumwa would love to have over for Sunday dinner.

I have seen your stories about Giants (http://yawp.com/3rd-i/vol3/vol3No11/giants.html) and the Putnam Parallelogram (http://yawp.com/3rd-i/vol3/vol3No8/Putnam.html) on several web sites!

     We know about these sites. Some cite where they got the story from, several haven't and are using it to back up their case about REAL giants. If you're a true believer in the paranormal, be very skeptical about "proven sources". We acknowledge that the Kossuth Giants and Putnam Paralellogram (and 98% of all our stories) are totally made up, but intentionally similar enough to others of these story types that they slot right into their respective genres very well. It should tell you something about the whole paranormal genre that something very clearly set up to be paranormal humor can be quoted as a legitimate source by "real" websites devoted to uncovering the "truth".

     Don't wind up like the respected veteran journalist Pierre Salinger who saw something that looked "legit" on the web and reported it as fact. Also take to heart Mikhail Gorbachev's admonition: "Trust but verify." Lastly this: BELIEVE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

You say 98% of your stories are fiction---what about that 2%? How do I know when you're being serious?

     When we present stories that we want to report as nonfiction, we use our own name in the "by-line". Our real names are listed under "Staff writers" on the Contents Page. An example of these nonfiction stories is the Halloween Issue about Iowa City's Ghost Stories which includes the Black Angel.

I have read that you are all just part of a massive government disinformation campaign.

     Charges that we are on the government payroll as agents who disseminate mis and disinformation are not true. Not one paycheck---or guest night in the Lincoln Bedroom---ever came during the Clinton administration, and if they didn't pay us, why would Bush---who could have REALLY REALLY REALLY used our skills during the build-up to the recent OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Nor have we ever been employed by any representative or subsidiary of Haliburton or any other US Government Contractor for the express purpose of manufacturing facts.

     In fact, if you---dear gentle sweet reader---are employed by any government agency in dire need of thoroughly researched, credible but sweetened and succulantly cooked mouthwatering-perfect versions of the facts---email us.

YOU BASTARDS! I SPENT AN HOUR IN SERIOUS RESEARCH OF PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND NOW I FOUND OUT IT'S ALL FICTION!? DON'T YOU HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR TIME? GET A LIFE!

    Okay...so you wander into a stranger's house, whine about they're not providing your favorite ice cream, and moan about sitting on a damp, sticky lump in the sofa that only a bone-crunching second ago was their beloved cat...

     Let's drub poor dead dobbin one more time:

Know your sources.

Trust but verify.

Believe at your own risk.

     Don't feel bad if you were fooled by the stories...we have even had actual professors from places like the University of Iowa wanting access to the special collections library at the University of Emmetsburg. Likewise Georg von Podebrad College doesn't exist either. There's a publically availible list of accredited colleges and universities in Iowa with mailing addresses that doesn't include yawp.com/3rd-i as an ultimate reference. How a person rises to be a University Professor and can't verify the existance of a state university is indeed stranger than fact...

     In the future if you are trying to find out if someone is lying to you it is best not to ask the suspected liar, but seek some outside impartial source.

One article on giants has an image of a so-called giant, however this is the well known dwarf which was found in Wyoming. His image can be found in various books which all say that it is a dwarf. So your description of the image is wrong. Trust me on this one, I am an archaeologist and I keep my self busy with fortean material.---R.

     This is the kind of reader we've been talking about! They're skeptical about "reports" presented as facts! They've read and questioned the veracity of things on the web and in print. They've trusted but verified. Terrific job, R.!

btw R. ---Nobody likes a smug smart ass.

Back to Contents Page