Well, in person anyway. I have never been to an NFL playoff game, but the Giants-Patriots game last night felt like one. My beloved Giants lost, but they played out of their f@&$ing minds. And because they were in the game until the failed onside kick in the last minute, the excitement never went away.

With the news all week about Giants fans selling tickets to Patriots fans, I was expecting the stadium to be overrun with New England fans. But I was surprised (and proud) to see that while that may have happened, Giants fans showed up in droves to support the G-Men. In fact, there was more Big Blue support at the stadium than I have ever seen (usually there are a lot of casual fans). And there was a playoff atmosphere right from the kickoff. And that first drive by Eli and the Giants, where they went downfield and scored, set the tone for the whole night.

Back and forth the game went, and the great thing was that throughout the whole game you felt that the Giants could do anything. They stood toe-to-toe with the best team in football, and they rose to the occasion. No starters rested, and they played their hearts out, and (for better or worse) they made us believe. They made us believe that they could beat the Pats. And they made us believe that they can do something good in the playoffs. Tampa had better watch out.

We watched one of the greatest QB’s of all time make history. That long pass to Randy Moss that set the two records (can’t believe they managed to orchestrate that), with him doing that while getting hit in the face, after just having missed the same play, showed just how great he is. And managed to knock the wind out of the crowd for a while. That was the turning point of the game.

It’s not the best game I have been to; that honor still rests with a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game I went to. But it was close. I felt proud of my Giants. And the atmosphere in the stadium was electric. Even my cousin getting into it with a jerk of a Pats fan 3 seats behind us, who was quiet all game but started jawing off in the 4th quarter when they got the lead, didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the game.

Oh, and many thanks Ranjeet. It’s a shame you couldn’t make it to the game, but thanks for giving Sid, Louis and me this experience. It was unbelievable.

My fantasy season is over, thanks to a bad day by Drew Brees, and an ill-fated decision on my part to play the Packers Defense instead of my beloved Giants. Who could have predicted that the Packers D, which had been so solid all year long, would stink it up against the hapless Bears? And that the Giants D would go off against the Bills? That made ALL the difference in my semi-final matchup.

But the good news is that my football Giants did manage to pull off a win against the Bills, winning on the road again. Pretty much means that they are not going to try and win against the Pats next week. Too bad, as I will be going to that game, and so will be in attendance to see the hated Patriots make all sorts of history in Giants stadium.

Hopefully the road win karma will continue for the Giants in the playoffs. First round is now set against Tampa, and we will face Garcia again like we did last year. Hopefully the result will be different this time.

If you go to Rockefeller Center this holiday season, you might be able to find out.

Stretched out on one of the pedestrian plazas is a giant steel tub containing millions and millions of penny’s. Penny Lane or Penny Harvest Field is an innovative idea from Common Cents, a nonprofit organization. The tub is filled with penny’s collected by school children from hundreds of schools all across the country. They expect to collect many more from visitors that will add to the field, and then distribute the money to charities all across the country. Even better, the money that the school children collected will be returned back to them so that they can figure out how to donate the money to charities of their choosing.

It is really cool, so check it out if you can. Especially, at night, when the coins gleam in the night, against the backdrop of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. It is on the small pedestrian plaza between 50th street to the south, 51st street to the north, 5th avenue to the east, and 6th avenue to the west.

You can read more about the project and the people who came up with this crazy idea here.

I’m sitting here at HQ biding my time till I have to head to the airport to catch the red-eye back home. Seems like the weather in New York is affecting flights, and it is highly likely that my flight is going to be late.

But today was a good end to what has been a very tough week. Work was pretty crazy, so it was good to be able to blow off some steam at the holiday bash that we had here for our group. It was held at the conference center, which isn’t exactly the most exciting venue. But it still managed to be good fun, thanks to the entertainment.

That entertainment took the form of karaoke. There wasn’t enough booze to get me to sing, but plenty of other folks did step up to the plate. And there were some really good shows put on. People were vying to impress the judges for the chance to win a mystery prize, and after a few false starts trying to get the karaoke system to work with the conference centers corporate presentation system, we managed to get a good show going. Folks like Raj really had a go at it, and surprised everyone. Especially Raj, considering it was his first ever time trying karaoke. Who knew there was a rocker somewhere deep inside that innocent looking exterior. Sandy helped him out by making him the only performer of the evening with a backup dancer. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for him to win the prize.

There were a few other competitions going on. In one part of the room, folks were trying to win a prize by being the best on “Guitar Hero” on a Nintendo Wii. Someone came in at the end and won with a 99% score! And the most dramatic competition was taking place at the other end of the room where people were competing in trying to fly a remote control helicopter the best. From the screams, it seemed like there were plenty of crash landings.

All in all, a fun few hours where everybody (well, most people) could forget about work, kick back, and have some fun.

Now if only my flight would leave on time…

Indian Institute of Technology on the cutting edge. Try and beat that MIT.

You know the holidays are here in New York when the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is up. And when it takes more than 10 minutes to walk from 5th or 6th Ave to see it because of the crushing crowd of holiday visitors to the Big Apple.

This years tree actually looks a lot nicer than in previous years. Must be something to do with the transition to energy-saving LED lights. Wonder if the lights on the surrounding trees in the plaza are also the same LED lights.

Walking around Rockefeller Center at this time of the year is one of the quintessential New York experiences. Everyone should see it in person at least once. If you can tolerate the crowds, you will see something that is truly iconic. Every year Tanu and I go check out the tree, and every year we are amazed by it.

Well, next week I’ll be in California again, for a week of work at HQ. Hopefully it will be a week of good weather, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to meet up with some friends and family.