The age of extravagance is over. The lush life—even if you can afford it—is no longer practical without being burned alive by public opinion. Six new rules for the rich to live by:

View hostess Sherri Shepherd has worked with Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, and Andy Dick, among others. So which of these gentlemen was she alluding to when she said she'd witnessed some Christian Bale-sized freakouts?

Word is spreading around the office that layoffs are coming any moment. What should you wear for the big day? Ben Widdicombe, who found out in January that his "contract with a national magazine" (otherwise known as Star) was not being renewed, explains: "The perfect termination outfit should feature professionalism and employability as the top note, but with accents of confidence and an aftertaste that leaving the premises means moving on up. A sober suit with a bright shirt is perfect." One other bit of advice: "It is also important, when anticipating bad news, not to wear a favorite piece of clothing, which will forever be associated with an unpleasant memory." [NYT/The Moment]

He's the cheapskate of staff. Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's right-hand man, lives in a basement apartment on Capitol Hill rented to him by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Just one problem: He's not allowed to live there.

We've finally found the unlikely silver lining to Hilary Duff's casting in the forthcoming Bonnie and Clyde update. Sadly, you won't see it in the finished film.

An Irish journalist alerted us to his recent interview in London with Will Smith, there promoting Seven Pounds (or the precise amount of £ each local wasted on a ticket).

If you've been spending hours at the gym each week hoping to meet that special someone, you've been wasting your time. According to the new Zagat guide to dating—yes, they're doing dating now—"less than 2 percent had luck finding love at the gym, in a place of worship, or on a blind date." (We're guessing gay men hooking up in the showers at David Barton or Crunch didn't qualify as "dating.") Ten percent of the people reported that "random encounters in public places" was a great way to meet new people. Just something to keep in mind the next time a weird guy starts rubbing up against you on the subway. [Zagat]

Yesterday Ad Age humorist Simon Dumenco issued a fake report about Disney laying off a Jonas Brother. But he didn't say which one! And it's an important thing to consider. Who would you axe?

Attention, bloggers! Need just the right angry/confused/irritated picture of Christian Bale to complement your blog post/remix/sexual fantasy? Let Defamer do the work for you!

Now that NYC's most famous subway ad remixer Poster Boy got himself arrested, he's more famous than ever! We hear the NYT is even planning a story on him. For us it's about the art.

Every now and then we see or hear about a remake concept we can live with, even endorse. An updating of the 1977 hockey classic Slap Shot is not one of those ideas. Here's why:

It's been a rough stretch for every banking CEO, and Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein is no exception. While he did very well for himself in 2007—he took home a total of $67 million—he opted to forgo a bonus in 2008, and the $465 million in Goldman stock he owned at the beginning of 2008 was worth just $127 million by the end of the year. This probably explains why Blankfein's charitable contributions for 2008 fell off a cliff, too. In 2007, the Lloyd & Laura Blankfein Foundation handed out more than $1.5 million to more than three dozen charity groups. In 2008, the number dropped to $643,000. Almost every non-profit took a haircut: In 2007, for example, Blankfein and his wife gave more than $240,000 to Ethical Culture-Fieldston; in 2008, the number fell to just $45,000. But there were also a number of charities that were dropped altogether, such as the Robin Hood Foundation, which collected $390,000 from the Blankfeins in 2006 and $500,000 in 2007, but got zilch in 2008. The really grim news? Blankfein's foundation was only reporting contributions through January 2008, when the financial crisis was just beginning, which suggests much bigger drop-offs are yet to come. A look at the Blankfeins' contributions from 2006, 2007 and 2008 after the jump.

Tom Daschle has dropped his bid to become Secretary of Health and Human Services after not paying taxes for a car and driver. He must be flashing back to his campaign ad from 1986.

Now that we've done the Running Man to the Christian Bale Rant Heard 'Round the World, we have some questions about the man on the receiving end: Shane Hurlbut, the cinematographer on Terminator Salvation.

[Lonely and miserable actress Jennifer Aniston with Scarlett Johansson at the premiere of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Lady Business"; image via Bauer-Griffin]

Is hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger a normal man, or a superhuman paragon of ethics sent to earth to shame us into being better people? His treatment of an overdue library book points to "superhuman":

It's of a young Bale in Steven Spielberg's 1987 epic Empire of the Sun. He's singing to Japanese people. Look at how sweet and innocent he was! What changed? What made him so spoiled and mean in the years since? We may never know. It's a shame. Where has Cowboy Kelly gone?

There are some things in life that we'll never get tired of. The incarceration of flashcore titsploitation entrepreneur Joe Francis is one of those things. Break out the body shots!

Any audio as unfreakinbelievably fantastic as Christian Bale's Apocalyptic Meltdown is bound to get the remix treatment, and there's already several: Bale vs. Russell, Bale vs. Donut, and by far the greatest—the dance remix.

Already, computers are more intelligent than most people you watch on television. But what will happen when they are smarter than everyone? Google is starting a new institution, the Singularity University, to ponder that question.