A while back, I wrote about a treasure hunt involving tickets to a nine inch nails concert. I didn’t get tickets that time, but a new opportunity arose the Friday before the show. On the morning of July 18, the nine inch nails google earth kml file was updated. 25 more question marks appeared on the map. I frantically gathered myself and figured out how I would try to get to the closest locations.
Tickets found with the help of Nokia N800 and Nokia N95 8GB
I didn’t follow my own directions in getting the GPS locations from Google Earth to the N95 8GB NAM. I saved the locations as the default kmz file type, not the kml file needed for conversion. But I was in such a rush to figure out what I did wrong, I tried inputting the GPS coordinates manually. I checked google earth again and noticed the closest question mark went down. Time was slipping away fast.
Note: Thanks to commenter Zephrem, who found an open source application that converts all types of GPS data from one type to another. It is called ‘gpsbabel’ (gpsbabel.org) and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. This really would have come in handy that day.
Here’s a problem with the S60 GPS Data application. If you give it a destination, you can’t save it. If you try to save, it records your current position. I intended to input the coordinates and then export the location to Nokia or Google maps. But this method ended up failing.
Game On
I ended up calling a friend. He loaded up google earth while I drove to the next location. He directed me along the twisting roads of Beverly Hills to a park entrance. The clue read “Weight limit 3 tons”. At one point, the Nokia N95 8GB NAM lost its signal. I kept driving around frantically looking for signs that said 3 tons. I found 3 or 4 signs that read 3 ton limit along the road before my signal came back. Turns out I wasn’t there yet. My friend directed me further down the street to the entrance of a park that had the sign I was looking for. I looked behind it and found an envelope with a question mark on it. I let out a big laugh of triumph as I went over the letter and eyed my tickets for the show. A private dress rehearsal for the upcoming Lights in the Sky tour.
My friend asked me to find another pair for him, so I drove forward to the next closest location. The clue for this location read “Behind the mirror in the men’s bathroom. Be discreet.” I drove down Sunset Blvd towards Hollywood to find a place that he described with a red awning. I had to bum a quarter off a guy to park nearby. On my way to the destination, I tripped and sprained my ankle. The place turned out to be a very seedy looking gentleman’s club. Worse, it was closed.
nine inch nails tickets in the strip club
We decided to try the next location. This one read “you’ll know it when you see it”. On my way back to the car, I saw a meter maid and freaked out. To my relief, he only said I was parked a little too far forward and I he wouldn’t give me a ticket. I got the next place and had to climb a steep hill. I found a Christmas tree knocked over and little else. Seemed like someone got there already. I decided to go back to the gentleman’s club and hope someone might show up. On my way there, I ran out of gas. Luckily I had a spare gallon in the trunk.
There were nine inch nails tickets somewhere near that tree
I went back to the club and sat out back. I followed the nine inch nails fan forums with my Nokia N800 tethered to the N95 8GB NAM. Fans from outside of LA were excited while those in LA were frantic. They dug through mud, swam under bridges and wandered through cemeteries for tickets. There was a lot of confusion, since some of the question marks didn’t go down right away, so people kept looking at locations that may have already been pilfered.
Finally, this guy smoking a cigar showed up. Figuring he was the owner, I asked him if he was. Turns out he was a friend of the owner and that he would be meeting him there soon. I hated talking to him, he was a super macho jerk. Then the owner showed up. Very slimy looking dude. I explained to him my situation and he went in and fetched the tickets. I gave him many thanks and drove off quickly.
I then drove over to Santa Monica to give my friend her tickets. Then I went home. I spent the rest of the day following the excitement at the fan forums.
The Show
On the way to the show, I used google earth to find a market to get some snacks. Strangely, it missed a market that was across the street. As I waited in line, security came out and said no cameras. People asked about camera phones and they said they’re okay. Strangely, they never checked people for cameras, a few people ended up sneaking their cameras in anyway.
The show was phenomenal. The stage set up was incredibly impressive and the light show was spectacular. There were two giant screens that moved up and down, a large array of rotating lights set above another giant screen for a backdrop. The performances were great, a wonderful mix of new songs and old favorites.
Photos
The pictures I took barely capture the excitement. I tried fidgeting with the settings and ended up just using landscape mode. This mode works great since it wastes no time trying to focus. I made sure to time my pictures when there was plenty of light on stage. I also had a problem with a bouncer. Since I was standing so close to the stage, he kept giving me warnings about no cameras. Trying to be sneaky with my shots took a bit of effort. I really wanted to shoot video to QIK, but I had no chance with that bouncer around.
Note: The slideshow below might not be visible in rss readers.
I suspect that the Nokia N82 has a better standby mode than the N95 8GB NAM. I often left the N95 8GB in standby so I could be ready to take another picture whenever I got the chance. The battery was very low after the show and I didn’t take many pictures. The N82 would be able to take 4 times as many. I had a great time and hope you enjoy the pictures I took.
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Original post by Al Pavangkanan
