In yet further evidence that our lives are totally ruled by random quirks and irrationalities, even when it comes to money, new research shows that the way we feel about cash depends on bill denomination. Hundred dollar bills are treated as more valuable than five twenties, and so we're much less likely to break a hundred, especially since once we have, we'll apparently spend the money even more indiscriminately than if it had been smaller bills in the first place. It does make sense: As politicians or mafiosos will confirm, once the mustard-colored strip is broken on an inch-thick bundle of Benjamins from one's briefcase, that $10,000 just disappears on goodness knows what!

The Museum of Natural History held its annual dance last night.

If you're out on Saturday night and you suddenly notice all the lights go out, don't assume Con Ed shut off the power because the city fell behind on its electricity bill. Earth Hour begins at 8:30pm and the World Wildlife Fund (which is organizing the event) says participants will include billboards in Times Square, and the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. But don't think it would be a good time to go on a crime spree either. "Lighting related to public safety will remain on." [Crains]

As disappointing as it is when you're lying in a hospital bed, your life hanging in the balance, and the doctor who arrives to treat you barely resembles Noah Wylie or Patrick Dempsey, it's nevertheless a little disconcerting to learn that young doctors are learning how to do their jobs from shows like ER and Gray's Anatomy. Anesthesiologist Elizabeth Sinz, who is director of a "simulation center" where medical students learn how to handle emergency situations, says: "I see students all the time who show up and act like their favorite doctor on TV."

If all the various long-winded justifications and passing-the-buck blaming for the international economic meltdown have failed to satisfy, you'll be glad to finally hear a reason that's so straightforward and obvious, it's amazing it took this long for somebody to voice it. "This crisis was caused by the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes," pointed out Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva yesterday, "who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing." Such logic is unimpeachable, although we hope blue-eyed Brazilian Gisele Bundchen isn't too insulted by her president's epiphany. [FT]

• Real estate heir Richard Mack (he's the son of Apollo Real Estate boss Bill Mack) has sliced nearly $8 million off the price of his mammoth, seven-floor townhouse on East 94th Street. Mack originally put the home up for sale for $59 million with broker Carrie Chiang last summer. In December, he dropped it down to $49.95 million. Now all 24,463 square feet can be yours for just $42 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Don Imus has put his 10,000-square-foot waterfront estate in Westport on the market for $30 million. [WSJ, FHC]

Mariah Carey turns 39 today. Quentin Tarantino is turning 46. Fergie is 34. Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell turns 75. British actor Michael York is 67. Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg is 62. Nancy Peretsman, investment banker to Oprah and Martha, is 55. And Talisa Soto, former model and current wife of actor Benjamin Bratt, turns 42 today. Weekend birthdays follow below.

• Madonna's kicked boytoy Jesus Luz to the curb and is thrilled to be single again, reports Britain's Daily Mail based on the things she's been telling fans on Twitter. But as the Times reminds us today, lots of celebs only pretend to use Twitter, so you don't have to give up hope entirely just yet. [DM]
• In related news, Madonna is expected to arrive in Malawi this weekend so she can add another baby to her collection of human accessories. [NYDN]
• Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr. only broke up recently, but she may have already moved on: She was spotted at a "rebound dinner" earlier this week. [P6]
• More trouble for CNBC: The network's golden boy, Dylan Ratigan, may be heading out the door after clashing with management. [P6]
• Ivana Trump may have reunited with her ex, Rossano Rubicondi. [P2L]
• Mega real estate broker Kathy Sloane has been hit with $248K tax lien. [P6]

• President Obama will meet with 15 big banking CEOs in Washington today, including Vikram Pandit of Citigroup, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs. Obama plans to "quiz" them "about developments in the economy and their businesses." Sounds like fun. [CNN]
• Hedge fund managers can expect a lot more oversight in the future, which isn't something they're too excited about, not surprisingly. [Reuters, NYP]
• Andrew Cuomo says he now plans to widen his investigation of AIG. [DB]
• Many of the AIG execs charged with preventing the insurance giant from taking on too much risk still have jobs at the company for some reason. [WSJ]
• The exodus of Merrill bankers from Bank of America continues. [DJ, DB]
• Swiss private banks are banning top execs from traveling abroad for fear they will be detained as part of a crackdown on bank secrecy. [Reuters]
• Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing says it's time to start buying stocks and real estate again. Make of that what you will. [NYT]

Further evidence that instead of taking a tour bus to visit the suburban homes of AIG execs, taxpayers would be better off channelling their rage by staging a noisy protest outside the Beresford: After the Times reported this morning that Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit signed off on tens of millions in retention bonuses to nine top execs at the firm—Pandit, himself, received a stock grant worth $2.5 million—comes word from Daily Intel that Citi is now laying off 65 janitors. Janitors. (Presumably not the same ones, though, who will be expected to clean up after Pandit in the new $10 million office, which he's currently constructing.) Two other big advantages to a Pandit protest: Unlike AIG, you won't have to make the trek to Connecticut. And PETA protesters have been there for months now, so they can show you the ropes. [NYM]

• One of the biggest sources of inspiration for designers in 2009 thus far: mid-20th century space-traveling superheroes. Naturally. [NYT]
• Thom Browne is denying media reports that his line is on the verge of going bust. [NYM]
• Speaking of financial trouble, Marc Ecko seems to be knee-deep in it: He may be forced to turn over his company to creditors if he doesn't fix things fast. [NYP]
• As expected, Fabrizio Freda is taking over for William Lauder as Estée Lauder's CEO. [BN]
• Jason Wu is not doing a reality show, sorry. [Fashionologie]
• Project Runway contestant Kenley Collins says she never assaulted her boyfriend with their cat. She just "plopped him" on the bed. Righto. [NYDN]
• Matthew Williamson's H&M line debuts in less than a month. [Vogue UK]
• Just in time for Easter, Giorgio Armani-branded chocolate eggs! [FWD]
• Interested in a $30 million diamond-encrusted dress? Perhaps not. [NYM]

New York City's jobless rate jumped to 8.1 percent last month, up from 6.9 percent in January. It marks the biggest single-month increase in more than 30 years, according to the state Department of Labor. [Crains]

• Things that are trendy at the moment: Mangalitsa pigs, overpriced hamburgers, and desserts made with stout. [NYT, Eater, NYT]
• A roundup of places scheduled to open over the next few days. [Eater]
• Charlie Palmer's Aureole moves to One Bryant Park in a couple of months; here are some renderings of the restaurant's new space. [Zagat]
• Beef sales are down, but you can probably figure out why that is. [WSJ]
• Yet another peek at Sasha Petraske's forthcoming Dutch Kills in LIC. [TONY]
• Pocket Change's list of your 10 best late-night dining options. [PC]
• Metromix reviews the city's collection of all-you-can-eat buffets, those "steam-table terrors filled with gloppy, stiff foodstuffs about as nutritious and delicious as Styrofoam." [Metromix]

Please be advised that the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero should be referred to from now on as "One World Trade Center." On a related note, please remember there is never any good reason to use the term "Freedom Fries" in conversation. Thank you. [NYP]

The Hotel on Rivington may not be the coolest hotel downtown, but you have to give them points for trying to keep up with the whole name-brand hotel clothing trend. THOR's management is giving every employee a pair of DC LIFE "dress sneakers," so their footwear matches "the scarlet carpeting of the hotel's dramatic entrance." Also: Not a bad way to keep up employee morale when you can't afford to give anyone a raise. [HC]

• It's been a dark day at the New York Times: Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Janet Robinson announced a five percent salary reduction for all editors and said 100 employees on the business side would be laid off. [Gawker, NYO, NYT]
• Blender has been shuttered; April will be the mag's last issue. [AdAge]
• The Washington Post is offering buyouts again. And if enough people don't take 'em, the paper says a round of layoffs will follow. [Politico]
• Richard Beckman is out as Condé Nast's marketing chief; he'll be heading up the company's Fairchild Fashion Group instead. [WSJ, Crains]
• It's getting a little stormy over at the Weather Channel! [NYP]
• Rod Blagojevich may have some sort of reality show in the works. [CST]
• ABC News has settled a lawsuit filed against Diane Sawyer. [NYP]
• Barry Diller is the proud new owner of SportsPickle.com. [PaidContent]
• The most newspaper-friendly city in America? Rochester! [E&P]

With all the upheaval in the world, it's good to see that some people aren't losing sight of the bigger picture, like one benevolent genius who's so eager to provide blondes with an alternative to ravaging their hair with peroxide, that he's dedicated his entire career to creating a non-damaging bleach—and he's nearly there. Kenzo Koike, a Tokyo scientist, has discovered a fungus-based enzyme that "naturally degrades melanin and has the added benefit of fighting the effects of free radicals." Sounds like Japan's greatest technological innovation yet! [Green Right Now]

Last week, we learned from a bunch of facial readers that Bernie Madoff's shady tendencies should have been as obvious as night and day. (Or as obvious as a "thin lips" and "deep-set eyes," anyway.) Now it's the graphologists who are weighing in! And funnily enough, they, too, say the writing was on the wall. (Or pad of paper, at least.) Says Bart Baggett, a "personality profiler and forensic document examiner" who lives in California: "I would say he was seriously abused as a child because he has such trauma. The leftward leaning, backward strokes are an emotional withdrawn tendency, a lack of emotional connection with humans." In other words, not only were Sylvia and Ralph Madoff really shady, they were also bad parents. Could we now get them to focus their attention on Tim Geithner? Would be great to get a little advance notice this time!

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that he's willing to support gay marriage in New York State. But he's really not sure "when the time will be right" for the passage of any legislation because, as we all know, the mayor never likes to move ahead with anything unless he has absolute consensus. "We see that the tide is turning, that support is mounting," the mayor told the annual dinner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. "Make no mistake, the time will come... and we will pass this bill." Speaking of "time," the mayor should only have to keep repeating that line for 25 more weeks and hope the gay community turns out at the polls this November. [NYDN]

You might not have heard, but there's a recession going on, which means that spending thousands upon thousands on designer clothes and show-offy accessories is suddenly and shamefully de trop. Drag! So Robert Burke, the luxury consultant and former fashion director at Bergdorf's, participated in a fun little game where he provided a list of purchases one would normally opt for—including, for men, an $8,375 Rolex steel-and-gold Oyster Perpetual Date watch and $520 Salvatore Ferragamo black lace-ups, and for women basic staples like a $995 Michael Kors black cotton zipper dress, a $995 David Yurman Cable Collection peace symbol necklace, and $330 Rock & Republic jeans—and challenged a couple of "avid shoppers" to find cheaper substitutes. Their discoveries will shock and amaze you!