It’s been nearly thirty years since I watched much MTV and that was back when MTV actually showed videos.  My parents didn’t get cable until my freshman year in college so while in high school I tried to get babysitting gigs at houses that had cable.  Even in the mid-eighties MTV showed the same videos over and over.

I made a guttural sound every time Dire Strait’s Money for Nothing, came on, “I got it you want your MTV!” I’d shout at the TV.

But if there was a new Wham single out, I was a happy girl, getting my George and Andrew fix on an hourly basis.

I remember Live Aid and trying to get channel 61 to come in, adjusting the antennas to focus the fuzzy screen, just barely making out the yellow shirt George Michael wore singing Don’t Let the Sun Go Down.

These days, the only time MTV is on my television is when my husband trips over an old episode of Jackass or Ridiculousness, featuring dudes setting off firecrackers on their sleeping roommates or neanderthals jumping off of roofs expecting to land without breaking a bone.  My husband contorts into fits of laughter over these shows.

Now I have over a thousand channels with nothing on, but I can get Music Choice Hits which shows videos 24/7.  I’ve started to watch videos partly to keep up with my nine-year-old son who likes to do the Whip/Nae Nae dance and is now wearing skinny jeans tucked into his high tops.

The top five videos this week include Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, The Weekend, Fetty Wap and Justin Bieber.

I will admit I have one Bieber single on my Nano pod.  Yes, I have a Nano pod plugged into my car with only 50 songs downloaded, including some Captain and Tennille, Leo Sayer, Bobbie Brown and you guessed it, a lot of George Michael.

I’ve watched Beiber’s documentary “Never Say Never” which I found entertaining and pretty interesting.  A You Tube overnight sensation who was really a talented little boy.  I like Bieber with the bowl cut, Selena Gomez Bieber and even tattoo Bieber, although he really needs to stop getting any more ink.

That said, he is a little cringe worthy.  Even my son has declared he doesn’t like Justin Bieber because he went to jail, and nice guys don’t go to jail.

No truer words have been said.  However, Bieber’s issue is a lack of common sense.  Maybe you don’t make a spectacle out of yourself on the Comedy Central Roast.  Maybe you don’t dye your hair platinum, and maybe you put some pants on.

I do have to give the guy credit for some smart moves.  Putting an obvious Calvin Klein product placement in his “What Do You Mean” video is a money making strategy. He’s no Marky Mark, but for this current teeny bopper generation, he’ll do.  And as we’ve recently learned, there is nothing between him and his Calvins.

I do like that he is Canadian.  I think that is a redeemable quality.  I’ve never met a Canadian I didn’t like.  Good, friendly, nice people.

He produces catchy, danceable music and in my mind I have all his same moves.  Unfortunately, that’s where the moves stay – in my mind – along with my self-image of being forever 21.

He has nice teeth, kissable lips and good hair if he’d just leave it alone. He can dance and owns a lot of cool cars.

My son doesn’t care for Bieber’s latest hit, “What Do You Mean” which I force him to listen to when it comes on the radio.

“Isn’t it growing on you?”  I’ll ask and Shawn just shrugs his shoulders, indifferent.

Maybe a mid-forties woman liking Justin Bieber is bad for the Bieb’s street cred.  Now that Fetty Wap song “679” featuring  Remy Boyz – that is a great jam.  This old girl is definitely downloading that onto my Nano Pod, next to Kool and the Gangs “September”.