Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Culture / Justin Bieber does his bit for the Canadian economy

Justin Bieber does his bit for the Canadian economy

12/27/2010 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

drug-lord-justin-bieberBy Frank Moher

My New Year’s resolution for 2011 is to like Justin Bieber.

I’m quite serious.

My first reaction to the news that The Bieber caused a near-riot when he appeared at a Kitchener, Ont. mall on Boxing Day, there to buy some shades (because, after all, his future really is so bright he’s gotta wear them), was the standard derision: Oh how ridiculous, he’s this generation’s David Cassidy, or is that Shaun Cassidy, get a grip people (and by “people,” I mean you, 13-year old Kitchener-area girls).

Or, as the manager of the Sunglass Hut put it, with admirable southern Ontario laconicism: “I thought, my God it’s a 16-year-old boy who’s shopping — what’s the big deal here?”

But it happened that I had just finished watching Michael Bublé on HDNet, playing Madison Square Garden.  And just days before, at my end of the country, Diana Krall and hubby Elvis Costello had shown up at a mall in Nanaimo, B.C. to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, causing, if not a near-riot, a lot of texting and twittering among my son’s friends. And I thought how great it is that Canadians, particularly young Canadians, have these undeniably international and A-list celebrities to call their own. (Yes, I know Elvis isn’t a native son, but we’ve adopted him.)

In my day we had Gordon Lightfoot and The Guess Who. Good, but not the same thing.

So why not add Bieber to the list of Canadian mega-things in whose halos we bask? After all, he’s the biggest star of them all at the moment. And he himself put his finger on why they really matter to us: according to that same store manager, “he said he keeps some of his money in Canada.” These one-person industries bring some big coin back to the homeland. And not just when they go Christmas shopping or pay the taxes on their local manses; Bublé has already laid-out the bucks to buy a piece of the WHL Vancouver Giants and before long he’ll be able to afford the Canucks.

So I apologize for all the nasty things I’ve said about Bieber in the last year. Sure, I thought “Baby, Baby” made The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” sound like “Appalachian Spring,” but the kid won four American Music Awards in November, including Artist of the Year, so what do I know? I’m out of the Lightfoot/Guess Who era. I’ll be doing my best in 2011 to understand the error of my ways.

However, I still refuse to like Nickelback.

Update: Here’s video of the visit (guaranteed 100% importance-free):



But I prefer this, of The Biebs escaping — or rather, not escaping — a horde of teenage girls on a . . . well, you’ll see:

Bieber Escape FAIL – watch more funny videos

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: Canada, celebrity, Justin Bieber, music

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in