THEN: Secretary of State (KY), 1996-2004; Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, 2007
NOW: JYB3 Group (Owner) -public affairs consulting firm; Miller Wells law firm (Of counsel)
Full Biography:link
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Inspirational Facebook Stories
It is hard to move ahead in the present until we can make peace with our past.
Facebook has allowed us to have an unprecedented opportunity to find people from our past and find ways to work through past differences.
Last night I looked up a guy who bullied me mercilessly in 6th grade. I hadn’t seen him since middle school.
I looked at his pictures on Facebook and at his life and saw him as he really was (and still is): A scared and lonely and lost boy with a seemingly empty life. I looked into his eyes and felt sorry for him and let go of the anger I had felt toward him for all these years.
I forgave him.
And then, in my imagination, I walked over from my Facebook page to his and beat the crap out of him.
As I was walking back, I turned and saw him getting up and about to come toward me.
“No, no. You don’t want to do that.” I said.
He had that resigned look on his face as if to say, “I know. You are right,”
“Be glad you caught me in a forgiving mood. If I ever see you on my Facebook page, I’ll knock you into last year’s Facebook Timeline. We clear? We good?”
“Yes, sir.”
And just like that, thanks to Facebook, I was able to make peace with a part of my past. And then some.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
It wasn’t long ago that this was the only option for TV entertainment after 1 am.
And now you can’t find the DVD series anywhere. I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The writing was weak. Nothing much happened. Yet it was nice knowing it was an option. And when I did stare at the Indian test pattern, it had a calming effect on me.
And it became a TV institution.
I suspect someone somewhere in Hollywood is thinking of a modern remake of this time honored piece of TV history.
Maybe starring the Indian guy from the Twilight series who turns into a werewolf. I actually liked him a lot. He inspired me to start working out and I thought he was a more compelling and interesting character than the guy who played Edward Cullen.
On the other hand, the Indian role in the test pattern is eerily similar in breadth and scope to the Edward Cullen character. Quiet, stoic, brave, eccentric, bit of an outcast, and up all night without much nuance. Yeah, maybe the guy who plays Cullen would be a better fit.
This remake idea could be big. I am already seeing a sequel in the works before the first one is finished.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
The Onion dominates print humor on the web leaving an opening for video humor, which seemed more difficult by comparison.
Until Will Ferrell and some friends tried their hand at it by creating an oddly named website, Funny or Die.
And now they excel and dominate in this niche.
If you like dry humor and modern comedy, you gotta spend some time tooling around the Funny or Die website.
It’s been around for a while but recently seems to have made a significant leap in content. The quality has always been good. Now there’s plenty of it to check the site regularly
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jul 31, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Imagine for a moment what it would be like to have lived our lives up to this point truly believing in our hearts every day the words below spoken by a great Kentuckian:
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men/women who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
Now imagine what it would be like to live the rest of our lives truly believing in our hearts every day these same words….
Tired of imagining yet?
The owner of these words, of course, is Louisville native Muhammad Ali. Whose life is proof that these words can be true.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 30, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Used to be if you were hungry for chicken and in a hurry–and against gay marriage–there wasn’t a clear fast food option.
Not anymore.
Chick-fil-A has finally articulated what most suspected. They want to dominate market share of the heterosexual chicken eating population by coming out against gay-marriage.
No surprises here. I mean, c’mon. “Chick” is in the name.
“I’ve loved Chik-fil-A from the first time I tried it. That’s got to count for something.”
I’ll be watching next month for the new Chick-fil-A “Hetero Combo” featuring a masculine looking sandwich with two chicken breasts and straight looking garnishments.
This creates a frenzy among the remaining fast food chicken chains to see who will try to appeal to the gay friendly chicken eating population.
Apparently rumors that Popeye’s is considering moving their headquarters to Fire Island, NY and that KFC is introducing the “Judy Garland Over the Rainbow” sandwich are false. However it does appear that Dairy Queen is working on playing both sides with the “Big Butch Chicken Basket”
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Costco and Theological Insights.
As I walked in Costco today I had a serene feeling overtake me. It was bustling with pleasant people and had almost everything imaginable to choose from and at bulk rate pricing.
In some weird way it got me thinking about Heaven.
No, not about shopping in heaven but something more metaphysical and deeper; namely; I wondered if Heaven isn’t more open and accessible to the than many imagine. I always expected it would be….and still hold out hope it will be.
There’s something about the feeling of being in Costco that I just like. Very different than shopping at a over-priced formal place like, say, Tiffany’s, which I dislike and have only been to once or twice.
A lot of Christian spokespeople talk about Heaven more like it’s in the mold of a Tiffany’s than a Costco. I disagree with them. I think God is more forgiving and gracious than that. I can’t really explain why I think this. I just always have. I have never been able to imagine God as being petty and punitive as his primary raison d’être or “reason for being.” Though some of his loudest publicists would have you believe otherwise.
And I don’t believe that God has broadened the entry barrier to Heaven (as Costco has to shoppers) in response to market pressures. I think it’s always been that way. God was way ahead of the market on this one.
I left Costco today without buying a single thing but felt spiritually uplifted and grateful for a loving God that is as comfortable hanging out in the corners of Costco as the greeting lobby at Tiffany’s.
Full Disclosure: I did become a Costco “Executive Member” to cover my bases in case Heaven is somewhere between Costco and Tiffany’s.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jul 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Week two with the iPhone.
I like it.
If this were The Bachelor, the iPhone would get another rose. And proceed to week 3.
But not before showing some highlight clips from the prior week. And not flattering ones.
The time I was alone with my iPhone and asked if it had ever stayed charged long enough to see what dusk looked like.
The time I typed “i” inadvertently instead of “o” 5 times, said s…omething really loud. Just a single word, really. And then substituted another word that didn’t have an “i” or “o.”
And, finally, sarcastically joking with a friend about several mishaps —in front of the iPhone.
But then we rounded out the week with a sweet highlight where I called tech services and later took it into a local Verizon store complaining about the ringer sign being frozen on screen. Then the Verizon person showed me I had put the case on upside down.
We all had a nice laugh.
But I’m giving a rose because there’s something about this iPhone. It did not have me at hello. Or even at Siri’s first clever response. Just seems like the kind of phone you can be with for long periods of time and not need to say anything. And even though I get frustrated with it sometimes, I can’t stay mad at the iPhone. I just can’t!
And it helps that it’s kinda cool. I need that. We compliment each other well. I can’t decide if we are more like Claire and Phil Dunphy or Jay and Gloria from Modern Family.
Hard to say. The important thing, though, is that it just works.
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jul 24, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
“I know it is going to be a good day when….(fill in the blank with what the tip odf is for you).
Me?
It’s when driving to work I nail lip-synching Mos Def’s “Know That” from the album Black on Both Sides. And when I nail both Mos Def’s AND Talib Kweli’s part –like I did this morning….well, step aside son.
Anything is possible for me.
There is nothing I can’t lip-sync.
That is until I get …to the office and am waiting at the elevator. Then I start to question the correlation between my illest hip-hop impersonations and having a successful day at work. But I smile to myself because I know deep down if free styling hip-hop is required, I won’t have any trouble taking down the other 4 guys on the elevator with brief cases.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
My version of George Washington’s cherry tree (I cannot tell a lie) story.
If you live long enough in a city you find pieces of yourself –your life–that catch you off guard and bring back a flood of memories.
That happened to me tonight when I went to an to a new ATM off Frankfort Ave. As I looked up I saw a door (see picture) that I recognized. I knew instantly it was a door from a defining moment in my life, when my honesty and character was put to the test.
I was 16 years old and was out one night with my closest high school friend, who I’ll leave nameless. We were discussing sneaking into a movie. A couple left through the door attached to the theater and my friend grabbed the handle and held it open for me.
“C’mon, Johnny! C’mon!! Quick!”
I almost impulsively rushed in. But didn’t. I hesitated just long enough for guilt to seep in and catch my self up….and muster the confidence to whisper bravely “Let’s just go inside and pay.”
I know…that wasn’t as brave a declaration as I’d hoped ….but it spoke volumes about the kind of person I was. My friend didn’t have the money and said we weren’t old enough to get in anyway. He held the door open a few more seconds urging me to sneak in. But I didn’t.
And we left.
And I hadn’t seen that door to the old Crescent Art (porn) theater since that night 33 years ago. The night my character–OK, a small piece of my character–was put to the test. And I passed. By refusing to sneak into a blue movie house without paying.
What a guy, huh? Made me wonder if George Washington felt this way when he’d tell people the cherry tree story. Yeah, of course he did!
Read the rest of… John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Being Good While Doing Bad
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