Return to Paste 50 Neko Case Drives Us Batty.
—
1. Canada
(and the Canadians therein)
I just spent two months living in Toronto mixing my album. I sure did miss it! I haven’t lived there since ’98, so it was good to get back for an extended stay. The ladies who work upstairs in the studio had an election party. They weren’t kidding. Canada was voting Obama with bells on. People were crying and cheering, not just in our little corner, but all over the country. Canada was really rooting for us. I felt like the world still loved us after all. It was even more moving than I imagined it could be.
2. Honeycrisp Apples
Rock ’n’ roll is wild. Believe everything you hear about it.
3. My Band
What can I say?! They’re adorable.
4. Bats
There’s a bridge by my house under which live trillions of Mexican free-tailed bats. I walk my dogs down there a lot and visit them. If you stand still with a flashlight, they fly really close all around you and make excellent squeaking noises. Sometimes they’ll graze my arm with a damp little wing. I love that. They eat about 1,500 mosquitoes a night each! Bats are having a hard time, though—pollution, habitat loss and wind farms (huge turbines, also detrimental to birds and many other sensitive, threatened animal species) are really taking a toll. Imagine what would happen if we had no bats! Think of the mosquito-borne diseases that would explode—West Nile, malaria. You can help fight these diseases by putting up a bat house. Make sure you’re going green in a responsible way, and question things. The word “green” has become a major marketing catchphrase that’s sometimes used deceptively. Don’t jump on board for “clean” energy if it ruins other things. Wind power is great; wind farms are bad. Do lots of research and tell your local and national governments what you want. Bats and birds can’t type, so help them out. [si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/batfacts.htm andbetterplan.squarespace.com]