Justin Beiber

So, I've got a little topic I'd kind of like to rant about.
Justin Bieber.
Anyone who is a fan of Bieber, I apologize if what I write here offends you. Frankly, I'm offended by the little pop wonder himself. I want to tell you a little story about J.B... so bear with me.

A few years ago, before I had my son, I used to hang out at the Stratford Youth Centre with my son's father Taylor. Both of us are musically inclined and Taylor used to play guitar for the other youth sometimes. All of us enjoyed it... all of us except Bieber. That kid used to insult Taylor, insult me, insult all of my friends. He was self-centred and ignorant, and he made everyone feel awful about themselves whenever he came around (which, thankfully, wasn't too often). He told one of my friends that she had "donkey teeth" (amoung other things) and made her cry for a week. Mhm... he's SOOOOO sweet! (sarcasm)

One of my best friends, Samantha Mckiel, competed with Bieber in Stratford Star (run through the youth centre)... I watched him perform long before he got famous, because I was there to support Sam. To be honest, all I could think about when I watched him sing his juvinile boy-band song about Basketball was that I hoped he would fail in his musical career just so he'd be knocked down a peg. The opposite has obviously happened. This kid, who made so many people feel awful about themselves, is now a million dollar star living in the south... and frankly, fame hasn't helped him gain any sense of reality or humilty at all, it's done the opposite.

In some of his interviews Bieber has failed to even acknowledge Stratford at all, or it's role in his climb to fame. In another interview, he finally DID mention Stratford... but had the audacity to say he was the first person to get famous from here! Let me clear that up... here's a list of all the famous people I know of that have come from Stratford (several of which were mentioned to Bieber... he didn't know who any of them were):

Colm Feore (festival actor, has played roles in several films including The Chronicals of Riddick)
Lloyd Robertson (CBC anchor and actor)
Shawn Roberts (actor)
Dayna Manning (musician)
Steve Joles (world famous sound mixer-recorder)
Richard Manuel (musician, from The Band)
Cynthia Belliveau (actor)

Loreena McKennet lived in Stratford, Timothy Findley lived in Stratford, even THOMAS EDISON worked in Stratford for a short time. Tim Taylor got his start here, as did many others. If Bieber honestly thinks he's the first "big thing" to come from this town... someone needs to give him a smack upside the head, or at very least remove the wool (or rather, really AWFUL looking bangs) from his eyes.

(In all seriousness, that kid needs a haircut, he's had that style for years... think he can afford some scissors with his mansions and cars... that he can't drive....)

I take comfort in one thing, and while this sounds terrible I'm being completely honest... in a couple years that kid's voice is going to crack, and that'll be the end of it. Maybe then, just maybe, he'll have the bloody compassion to apologize to all the people he treated like crap back here.

Sorry, end rant.