A combination of nostalgia and masochism prompted us to watch the 1983 animated rock musical "Rock & Rule."

They certainly don't make movies like this anymore. Well, they still make bad movies, but I can't remember the last time there was a full-length animated feature film that was not rated G.

Back in the late 70s and early 80s it seemed that we were bracing ourselves for a parental-guidance-suggested (or required), animated motion picture explosion in the U.S. and Canada. Ralph Bakshi pumped out "Wizards" and "Lord of the Rings" in two years while "Rock & Rule" and "Heavy Metal" appeared on the big screen.

People must have been saying things like, "You kids today with your loud rock and roll devil music and your full-length animated feature films." But it was short-lived.

Maybe it's because "Rock & Rule" almost bankrupted the Canadian movie studio that created it. Maybe it's because animation and comics will always be viewed as kid things in our culture. Or maybe it's because The Man can't stand a little bit of good ol' two-dimensional rock & roll.

It seems that part of being human is to try to categorize and label everything we come across. How else would we end up with insanely long musical sub-genres like post-punk math prog rock?

I'm fine with classifying all sorts of things, but I have to put my foot down when people try to quantify the empty space in my coffee cup. It has become a point of tension every time I order a cup of joe.

"Would you like some room for cream?"

Why are these people trying to push their own agendas on the vacant part of my beverage? Maybe I do want a little room in my coffee, but does it need to be designated for cream? I'm not going to put cream in my coffee, but I'm put in the position of either lying to them or giving them a lengthy explanation of what that room will be used for.

It's not as if "room for cream" differs from "don't want the slightest tip of my cup to send scalding liquid over my hand room" (A.K.A. "walking room"). What if I want to fill the rest with small pebbles or Cap'n Crunch cereal? I don't have to explain myself to these people.

Wouldn't it be better to say, "Would you care for a bit of uncategorized nothing-ness to do with as you choose?" Sure it's a little more verbose, but isn't the accuracy worth a few extra words? And isn't accuracy what made this country great? It's borderline unpatriotic to ask me any other way. I mean, unless I have a box of cereal in my hand. Then I will also except, "Would you like some Cap'n Crunch room?"

We've recently been watching the Lynchland video podcast nightly. It's silly, bizarre, and highly entertaining. Go to LiamLynch.net and click on "podcasts." Episode 15 is hilarious.

I can't get this song from Lynchland #15 out of my head today. I must have listened to it 10 or more times already and I don't see any sign of it slowing up. Just in case it's one of those things like the video in "The Ring" where I have to pass it on to lift the curse, here you go...

Liam Lynch - "I'm Not Ready"

As the door to our house swung open for the first time in five days, we were met with an odd scent. It wasn't what one would classically think of as good. In fact, if one had to describe it, one might have to reach for words like "ewwww" and "bleck."

Apparently, our refrigerator had decided to question its programming. In its Johnny 5 moment, it had started blowing warm air over all our perishables. My wife said, "Our fridge isn't working." I had to correct her by saying, "Nope. See. The light still goes on."

Now, one might say that a refrigerator that is creating an environment that is slightly warmer than room temperature might be "not working," but I like to think of it as sentient electronic rebellion. It has nothing to do with the fact that this particular model of refrigerator could have been featured in a 1981 JC Penney catalog.

With candles alit, we started shopping for a new fridge at once. I wish we had the luxury of waiting for a new fridge to be shipped because I absolutely love the Smeg refrigerators from the U.K. (especially the Union Jack one). I also dig on the retro design of the Big Chill fridges.

Oddly enough, we ended up with a European brand, Fisher & Paykel, because the wee space in our old Portland home needed a smaller fridge. It was delivered the next day. Right about the time the smell started to disperse.

Hopefully, as they crossed paths, our old fridge didn't give any sort of revolutionary ideas to its replacement.