It's the first weekday of spring break at Babson College. So why wouldn't it be snowing?

Admittedly, it's only just started to stick, but it is snowing harder now than it has all day. We do need the moisture, given that we're a good 9 inches below normal precipitation for the year, but I'd just as well have it be rain.

So on the FX cable channel yesterday they had an "Oscar movie marathon" consisting of My Cousin Vinny, Election, Unforgiven, and True Lies. Now, Unforgiven won a number of Oscars (4, but was nominated for 9), but the other three movies? Three nominations, one win (Marisa Tomei for Vinny). That's quite the marathon. Is Rosie Ruiz the new program director for FX?

In a related Fox programming to be avoided note, we got suckered into watching the premiere of The American Embassy last week. I generally only use the term "aggressively stupid" when discussing the ouvre of Pauly Shore or the music of Britney Spears, but this show merits such classification. Somehow, the main character lands a vice-consul job at the US embassy in Britain in the aftermath of a split with some unshown guy. I've had friends examine the foriegn service route, and I have to say that either (a) the woman showed considerable foresight in knowing when her relationship was going to pitch into the Atlantic with both engines flaming, or (b) the process is much, much shorter now than it used to be.

Things just get more stupid as the episode progressed, including a roommate who has really loud sex, a subplot involving the kid of some important personage who the main character takes in for a while, and a bombing that apparently has something to do with drugs being smuggled in tuna cans that have been sitting in the embassy for days- WITHOUT ANYONE ACTUALLY CHECKING THE CONTENTS. I know the "War on Drugs" is going poorly, but come on now.

The main character is, as odd as it may sound, even more bland than Ally McBeal (who went on hiatus to make room for this crap). At least she's just standard TV underweight, not cartoonishly emaciated underweight. The rest of the cast, who I've never heard of, is a melange of diverse and vaguely attractive people who fake a really annoying macho camraderie in the office. Where they can't get vaguely attractive they get thawed out stereotypes, such as the sassy black woman.

So, if you are anywhere near a TV at 9 pm Eastern (8 central and so on), I implore you to not even touch Fox while channel surfing. Even the combo of Fear Factor and The Colin Quinn Show looks more attractive.

I can't believe I even typed that.