Who is watching the meter maids (or better yet, the Meter Nazis) when they are out giving tickets?

Today I caught a Meter Nazi double-parked on Elm Street in Bethesda, next to the PNC Bank branch on Wisconsin Avenue, who had parked in TWO metered spots, not leaving enough room for any car to fill either space.

When I asked the Meter Nazi if he would be so kind as to move his car up some so that I may park, he said "No." No?!?!?!?! "N-O," as in a "I will not move my car, and you may park on the other side of the street [illegally, so that I can get another parking citation]" NO?

Well, that just set me off! And I turned on the camcorder on my cell phone and captured this video:


PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

I want to do whatever I can to bring the hypocrisy of parking officials (Meter Nazis) to the attention of the citizenry, local officials and the media. Why should Meter Nazis not be held to the same standard as the ones who are paying HEFTY property taxes to pay his salary?

After the Meter Nazi moved his car (I had to raise my voice some to get his attention. Or perhaps he didn't understand my English!**), another car tried to slip into the newly open spot on the street -- the very one I was waiting 10 minutes for. Thankfully, that nice gentleman waited until I got out of the bank and he took my spot which had 18 minutes remaining on the meter!

(In case you wanted to know the license plate number of the Meter Nazi, it's "HZG-691")

**NOTE: I recently received a comment via E-mail (9/2/07). I want to make sure it is posted here in its entirety: "I found your comments about the parking officials lack of english rather racial. It would be like me saying that your voice in the video sounded rather gay. Your photography site is linked to this and on it you say you treat everyone equally. I feel that your video comments say the exact opposite of your professional website. I won't be using you for my wedding to a beautiful lady I met who is from India. Have a nice day. "

MY RESPONSE: First off, I don't care if my voice sounds gay. I am gay. It's not an insult. In fact, I think that probably makes me a better judge of style than you. (Granted, I have no idea who you are, nor would I attempt to make assumptions.) In this blog I did make a comment about whether the parking officer was able to understand the words that came out of my mouth. This was due more to the fact that he was willfully ignoring me when I kindly asked him to move his car. I know plenty of blond-haired, blue-eyed "Americans" who have an even more tenuous grasp of the English language. See, what this video does NOT show the viewer is that for almost 5 minutes prior to activating the camcorder feature, I was (honestly) kindly asking if he would move his county-issued vehicle forward. After several refusals, and his suggestion that I park on the other side of the one-way street (where there are "NO PARKING" SIGNS!!!), that is the moment the camera came on. I did this in hoping that he would feel compelled to move or I would turn the video in to a supervisor.

NOWHERE in the video do I make racially-motivated comments. Nor did I EVER make them off camera. This is NOT how I was raised to be a loving respectful human, and it goes against everything I believe. I'm sorry that you feel that I was rude, wrong, ignorant or all of the above.

So to you, ANONYMOUS COMMENTER, I wish you many happy years of marriage, and hope that your photographer does a splendid job.

Labels: bethesda, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Blog, Government, Justin Schuck, Maryland, Meter Maid, Montgomery County, Parking, Photo, photography, Street Parking, Video, washington dc

I've started a new diet. (Today's actually day three.) And I've started a new blog:

http://justinsdietblog.blogger.com

Check it out! Follow my progress and learn ways to monitor your eating habits, and find healthy new recipes for successful healthy living!

UPDATED: December 27, 2008

Justin's Diet Blog has been deleted and its posts have been transferred to JustinSchuck.com/blog for reference.

Labels: bethesda, Blog, Diet, Exercise, Food, Health, Healthy Living, Justin Schuck

So I was sitting at my desk listening to the news this morning when a bulletin came across saying that there was a developing story related to a fire on Elm Street in Bethesda.

According to news reports, Pepco was responding to a manhole cover explosion on Thursday on the 4700 block of Elm Street in Bethesda. Pepco employees may have been working on a feeder line into a transformer when the explosion occurred shortly before 10:00am this morning.

Emergency response teams were on site investigating the explosion. As seen in the images here, smoke was billowing out of a vent in the street, and there appeared to be considerable fire and/or smoke damage to a truck belonging to First Class Plumbing, LLC of Virginia. (Their slogan: "We put the Squeeze on Pricing." Their new slogan: "We're Smokin'!")

From a photographic perspective, I was disappointed that there wasn't greater chaos, but I'm glad no one was reported as injured.

Justin Schuck Photography & Video media contact number: 301-760-7476

Read/See the NBC-4 news report:
http://www.nbc4.com/news/13425533/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

Labels: bethesda, Blog, Explosion, Fire, Fire Department, Justin Schuck, Maryland, Montgomery County, News, Newsworthy, Photo, photography, property-casualty, washington dc

(Sorry, business and photography-unrelated blog to follow...)

I have never in my life ever been so disappointed with a food item in my life. I cannot even begin to describe to you just how significantly let down I feel. All I wanted was something ridiculously greasy and delicious.

One would think that if you put "Philadelphia" in the name of the business, it has to adhere to at least some basic "hero" principles:

• The Sandwich must be greasy
• There should be loads of meat and cheese
• The sandwich should be HOT
• It should taste good enough for me to want to divorce a family and move in behind the counter to get closer that greasy, meaty, cheesy deliciousness.

But that did not happen today. I ventured over to Philadelphia Mike's on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda upon the recommendation of a colleague. I remember recently reading an article and watching a local newscast about where to find the area's best cheese steaks, and both news outlets marked Philadelphia Mike's as a top place to go.

Here are my thoughts:

• The sandwich was warm at best
• The meat had been pre-cooked and was essentially only reheated with cheese on the griddle -- therein lies their fatal mistake. They lost all the fat that give said sandwich its flavor.
• The bread was satisfactory at best if not altogether substandard.
• There was so much mayonnaise it was like having mayo soup with a side of bread and meat.
• All good subs should have a base amount of sodium to whet the palate and there was clearly no desire to adjust the flavor of the sandwich with any kind of mild seasoning or salt to the meat. But again, I go back to the fact that they reheated the meat.
  
• I had to wait over 15 minutes between ordering and delivery after I had waited over 20 minutes to get to the point of ordering (but I did go at 1pm at the peak of the lunch rush)
• The soda machine produced an overly fizzy beverage that lost its bubbles quickly and the drink tasted as if it was of questionable origin
• The french (or "freedom") fries were great. I would have liked even more Old Bay seasoning, but I understand that they have to strike a balance. They were crispy on the outside and soft and potatoey in the inside, although they were slightly on the overdone side. (The best thing about them though was their size. They were huge and thick, none of that shoestring nonsense.
• The staff was friendly and appeared to enjoy working there.

Bottom line...
I've actually had a better Philly cheese steak from McDonald's. But in the end, I'm out less than nine bucks and I'm full.

Labels: bethesda, Food, Justin Schuck, Maryland, Montgomery County, Philadelphia Mikes

As you may know, I have been actively pursuing my dream of opening what will be the premiere photography and design studio in the Washington DC area. Justin Schuck & Company LLC will be bringing together the various operations under one roof, including facilities to manufacture our small line of clothing products.

The innovative Justin Schuck Studios of Washington will have an oversized studio space; a small cafe and gallery; private client meeting areas; back office space for my staff; and a "gray room" for proper color balance adjustments for photography, videography and print design among other things. Together with our architects, we are putting together an extremely efficient design for the layout of the space.

The hard side of the business is raising the capital needed to not only lease space in an extremely expensive market, but also to support the construction and operational functions of the studio. I have invested a great deal of time and money to put us closer to the realization of my dream.

I have been very fortunate to have a group of investors who share my vision. Without their belief in me and what Justin Schuck & Company LLC can do, I wouldn't be here writing this blog.

Labels: bethesda, business, design, photography, retail, studio, venture capital, washington dc

I am pleased to announce the formation of the new Justin Schuck & Company, LLC. I would like to thank my attorney, Jason W. Shoemaker, of the Law Offices of Bennett & Shoemaker, for helping me put everything together and to organize my various companies under one name. (Fitting title don't you think?)

This is a very exciting move and it is going to make it easier for the various divisions to work together and streamline operations.

The companies coming under the umbrella of Justin Schuck & Company, LLC are:
Justin Schuck Photography
Schuck Interactive Group (owns JSDS)
Justin Schuck Design Studio
Innovative Brand Concepts
L'Agence de Schuck (Formerly JS&Co. Media)
The Church of Helveticology/HelveticaSaves.org
Politics Aside (a consulting firm)

We're really entering into an exciting time, and just in time for the holidays and the new year.

Labels: bethesda, business, design, Identity, photography, washington dc

The sky was glowing different colors throughout the day and if the world were to have ended, I would have believed it. I've always been fascinated by thunderstorms, ever since I was a young boy, but I had yet to capture one with my camera lens. Until this night. I happened to be on the ball, in the right place, and prepared.

I was up on my balcony in Bethesda, scanning the sky. There was a lot of lightning activity in Silver Spring, but even with my telephoto lens, it was difficult to capture accurately. There's a whole series of shots leading up to this one. It was amazing to watch the sky churn with anger. I was mesmerized.

To capture this image, I had my shutter on the "bulb" setting for increments of about 80 to 180 seconds. Due to the increasing darkness and the heavier rain showers, I was worried that I would not be able to capture anything. There was a triple lightning strike in-between my shutter opening and closing. I was disappointed. But in one frame, after I had held the shutter open for about 50 seconds, lightning struck within my frame! I was so startled and excited that I let my finger off of the shutter release too soon. (That's why there are details missing in the foreground and why you can almost see the cars on Wisconsin Avenue.)

But when I saw the image on the screen, I was so happy. I loaded it on my computer and just stared. I began to wonder if it would be stupid to hang an enlargement of that image on my wall, when the view is just outside. The jury is still out on that one. So now I've finally captured lightning, harnessing the powers of Zeus himself in my hand. It's not the first or the best lightning photo ever taken, but it's not my last, so there's still time to capture another great image.

Labels: bethesda, Justin Schuck, photography