Rebirth for quirky old French bike

If you want to turn heads with your wheels in Paris you don't have to splash out on a flashy car. Lately I've noticed people drawing looks when they ride by on new Solex bikes.

For those who weren't around France before the 1990s, the Solex was a funny little motorised cycle that enjoyed immense popularity as cheap transport.  Its quirkiest feature was the little petrol engine perched above the front wheel. When it was engaged, a disk on the motor rubbed against the bike wheel, giving it power. They made a noisy buzz while proceeding at a few miles per hour.

The Solex, affectionately known as the Soufflex (roughly puffer), was a symbol of the post-war era like the 2CV Citroen or the bulbous Orangina bottle. To use the usual cliché, it was a true Gallic icon. It was ridden by rural shop-keepers and Paris students and it featured in films with Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve [picture below] and Jacques Tati. Steve McQueen rode one when he was in France making Le Mans in 1971 [picture]. Between 1946 and 1988 Solex sold more than eight million of the "bicycle that goes by itself," as its 1960s adverts called it.

Like the Citroen, the Solex continued to have loyal fans -- in Holland, Belgium and Italy as well as France (Popular Solex site). But attempts to revive it failed until a couple of years ago. In early 2006, Jean-Pierre Bansard, a Paris businessman, started producing an electric version. He bought the brand name back from a Fiat subsidiary and made the most of a nostalgia-laden marque that is recognised by 98 percent of the French. Pininfarina, the Italian design firm that does Ferraris, was recruited to re-invent the Solex as retro transport for hip town-dwellers.

They have sold 4,000 so far -- which is not much compared with the explosion of scooter sales in French cities over the past few years. But they are hoping to catch the green tide with an improved model and they aim to double sales in 2009.  The e-Solex is made in China but it is stylish. Its performance is much closer to a power-assisted pedal bike than the noisy scooters that have invaded Paris streets and sidewalks. It won't go above 35 kph (22mph) -- about the same as the original Solex -- and the charge on its removable battery lasts for about 90 minutes. 

They have kept the old Solex look with the cylindrical tank over the front wheel although it is now a just a storage container. The motor is in the rear wheel hub. The e-Solex is not cheap, at 1,500 euros for the new model. It also has a disadvantage in being deemed a motor vehicle, so it has to be registered and insured -- unlike the original, which was officially just a bicycle. You have to wear a helmet but but you don't need a licence and they can be ridden from the age of 14.

The new Solex was criticised by the WWF earlier this month as something of a green sham since its production in a Chinese factory and shipment to France invalidate its zero carbon claims. But it looks very stylish and, unlike those unpleasant scooters, it draws smiles when it glides past. You can rent them from Europcar in Paris.

Footnote: A modernised replica of the original petrol-engined Solex has been assembled in northern France for the past three years. It's sold under the name of Black 'n Roll. It's marketed in the USA with the name Velosolex. 

[Below: original Solex and e-Solex]

Comments

[colin grayson]

boy , do I remember these ; my best friend at school had one until the engine seized , he went over the handlebars and was lucky to escape serious injury
but I was jealous until then !

[marguerite]

Votre blog m'a rendue nostalgique. J'ai revu mon petit solex bien-aime que je m'etais achete en 1964 et avec lequel j'avais fait tout un voyage en Provence : Arles, la Camargue, Aix -en- Provence, Vaison- la- romaine. Ca allait vite et pas trop vite, on avait le temps d'admirer le paysage. La seule difficulte, c'etait les cotes. Meme en pedalant pour aider le moteur, il calait souvent. J'ai un souvenir de la cote ,sur la nationale 7, a la sortie d'Aix...

[Romain]

The transmission system of the old Solex with a small roller on the bike's wheel was quite ineffective on rainy days. It was quite nice to have such a low cost transportation though.Like Marguerite says, it was a hybrid engine, gas and legs.

[James Valentine]

Dear God - My Grans ms had one in Provence in the 1980's. My brother and Iused to ride it until it ran out of petrol or the local cows stampeded.
Glad they are back. Can I have an old one?

[Blendi Progri]

Darn it,

Why Fr always has the best quirks?

Don't ya find that quirky?

[P Wentworth]

We had one in Kent in about 1962. One of the few in the UK. They were fun and we, as children, rode it all over the place. Of course life in general was easier and pleasanter in those days. No doubt now we would be arrested and our dna taken by Browns gestapo!My father and brother had BSAs and I later graduated to a Goerike from Hungary or E Germany I think. That was the winter we rode through 6ft snow! And on the river! Spent a lot of time on the ground too.

[Walter Hamilton]

I remember having a Solex in 1965 in Germany. It was fun, but the friction drive lost its friction on wet surfaces. Then you got to pedal a heavy bike with one gear.

[peter kinsley www.peterkinsley.com]

Whereas the Lambretta represented loving couples battling the Rome traffic in the 50's in films, the Solex, and then the Mobylette became an internationally known and loved icon of France: a beautiful long-legged French girl, summer dress flapping, hair flying in the wind, laughing and smiling and loving this new-found freedom. It was sheer sex-appeal, and girls everywhere wanted to emulate this new image of liberated women. No clutching the waist or shoulders of the he-man driver, no sheltering behind his broad back or riding "side-saddle" but a long yearned-for i n d e p e n d e n c e which drew every eye. British girls had an ambition to copy them, this combination of speed and feminism and sex appeal, but the weather was against them. Rain stopped play, as the cricketers say in England.

[Daniel Strohl]

The young lady in the first photo looks perfectly aerodynamic (this is an understatement :).

[Pietro B]

Designed by Italians and made by Chinese: like most great French things, this one too appears to be mostly a creation from foreigners... c'est ça, la difference?

[Robert]

I had one in 1967. The price was 300 francs and to use it in France you had to have insurance, but could ride it at 14. There was no registration. I do not remeber that it had problems in the wet. IT performed well in most weather, but did not go up hills fast and needed pedal power to assist.

I brought the bike back to England where it had to have a number plate and endure an MOT every year. You also had to wear a crash helmet which spoiled the sense of freedom.

[azloon]

a few solexes (pl?)* made their way to the u.s. in the 1950s. i remember thinking they were cool but i had no driver's license yet and thought anything that wasn't walking was cool.

* CB, i notice you managed to avoid using the english plural of solex. maybe there is no plural form. just 'the solex.'

e.g., do you have a solex? yes, i have a solex, or i have 'the solex'. does your sister have one? yes, we both have 'the solex'/soleges/solexes.

en francaise: les solex, les solexi, les soleges, les solei?

[Francois D]

This crisis will finally have good aspects ...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1v8gn_mr-bean-riding-a-solex_auto

[richard.jones]

I had a VeloSolex in Switzerland from the early sixties until it was taken over by a relative in the early eighties.

[dot king]

My memory of the Solex is riding along forest paths in the Allier over Christmas and the New Year when I was an au pair.

[jayseabea]

In 1965 my pen friend in Le Viviers Sur Mer in Brittany had one. I rode it all those holidays. It was my first road going motorised two wheeler and have never been without a m/cycle since then.
I was offered one at a brocante this summer. E200 and with full service history, an early 70's model I believe. I'm already kicking myself that I didn't snap it up.

[Daniel Strohl]

AZLOON,

En français : les Solex

[Gill]

Blendi, on the subject of names, you may be interested in the attached. I wonder how accurate it is :)

http://www.kabalarians.com/Male/Blendi.htm

[malik]

Designed by Italians and made by Chinese: like most great French things, this one too appears to be mostly a creation from foreigners... c'est ça, la difference?

oui et on en est fier, ça te pose un problème ?

[Henri Gargini]

The problem with these toys is that the battery will fail after multiple charges and then you must throw out the toxic battery and purchase another expensive one. I prefer the original made in France www.velosolexamerica.com

[Francois D]

EDF (electricity company) announced this week one or two nuclear power central more in anticipation of the development of electric cars . I hope that the green will not accuse the electric vélosolex .. (they certainly will support devices that recover electricity in the raids consuming then during the climbs, as the new TGV, I think, but I'm not certain that they support TGV).

[John Power . Dubln Ireland]

There was quite a few of these in Dublin in 1960. there was a couple of different types of them some more like Bicycles. They were in Black and almost invariably mostly in a slightly battered condition. They seemed to be all owned by middleaged People mostly Men but some Women. There was a Craze in Ireland at the time of Wearing French Berets and Beige Coloured Trench Coats with Belts ,both Men and Women. To further confuse things a lot of these Middleageed People also rode this Bike. They were also Popular down the Country. If an Outsider did not know better they would think they were in Rural France and would have to blink several times.

[Bela]

Oh, all my friends had one, back in the mid-'60s (in Nice). My parents would never buy me one. I felt deprived. :-(

[helmut]

i had obe in germany, cost me dm 300.00. was great drove it all over the place until it was stolen in the city.now i own 4 hungarian in the us, still fun to drive.

[Blendi Progri]

[Oh, all my friends had one, back in the mid-'60s (in Nice). My parents would never buy me one. I felt deprived. :-(
Bela]
Bela man, what a tough childhood. Couldn’t you guys call ‘Childline’ in the 60’ and report the Abuse.
Cruel world. I too remember not getting a bike one new year's day after being promised. They run out of stock but it felt like my parents abandoned me.

On serious note, from personal experience I say that the phrase ‘all my friends had/have one’ is too vague. Pure blackmail to a parent.

When my kids say ‘all my friends have one’ is meant to invoke so many things (see how poor I am, you don’t care about me, the item is That important, a true must-have, I feel bad, I don’t love you, shame on you for allowing this to happen, I feel lonely, desolate too) and it could be a Nin Wii game or other similar rubbish. I say No.
Then after some more whingeing (from them) I relent and buy it.

It takes only few days to see that ‘all other friends have it!’ isn’t perfectly accurate. A friend comes see that they have it and starts to get act in a way that leads me believe that he doesn’t have it.
Shamelessly I ask, do you have this game? No he says, my parents haven’t bought it for me, but ‘everyone’ has it!

Now either the little devils think everyone has it, and genuinely believe it to be true, or they have got the measure of us and use it to shame us into buying it for them.
Everyone means, All But Me, poor me.

So, everyone has it, isn’t always true, lol, am talking in general not simply in Bela’s case. I believe that (‘the implication’) her parents were cruel, mean and a little careless too.
If only they had the chance to rectify that great injustice, : ) )
___________________________________________
Gill, that was entertaining. Although it may not work 10% with foreign names, but one never knows.
+++++++++++

Anything to take the mind of the ‘loody x-mas… TV is barren, people look tired, the neighbourhood is totally desolated.

If I was a military strategist I will occupy a country during X-mas time. ( well, not if it was morocco, but…) and I suspect that the population will Thank me for it, if only for the sheer excitement brought on their lives.

Looking from my kitchen window at the neighbours cat, or a bird landing in the tree in front, seems great compared to telly programes. Same crap over and over and over.

It is Eric and Ernie’s week, this Week. Whohooah! It was the same previously, and the next one, threatens to be the same. We hear ( every year) how Eric and Ernie loved each-other, how they could finish each other’s sentences, what good guys they were, how much they did rehearse and the kitch never ends. Eric’s son, is paraded on TV ( to tell us about the True Eric) then Enie’s wife, to give us the ‘real’ Ernie and so on…

Man, it is enough to produce a sugary-induced-diabetic-coma even if one has more than needed beta cells in his pancreas. Pure orgy of Carbs.

Tomy did this, Less said that, Ronnie was so lovely…ohhh don’t ge me started on Ronnies. Is as much as a nation can take. Every month has to have 1 Ronnie program at least, on X-MAS it becames a fatality.
Big Ron died and lil Ron was upset- the mullahs of TV tells us, again and again, then When Lil Ron was upset Big Ronnie died. O Tempura o Mores*

Then, as if this toture wasn’t enough to break a grown man, they h it us from the left with another documentary to ‘put it in the context’ some buggers use ’perspective’ how the Comedians changed the face of Britain, connections with manners strikes and the London fog and Thames water are made..e.tc..e.tc..e.tc.

Maybe is the time, maybe the month but this particular month brings out the cannibal in me. Gross? I know. I just one to eat one tv executive. If many though the same ( we only need 10000 people to consume them all) then maybe creative people will be left to create and give us something new.

Maybe it was the same in times of Eric and Ernie, maybe tv ( or radio) did re-runs of Goons and spike milli and peter s. etc… maybe we never learn/ change.

Eric and Ernie were good for the time, but repeating them every year only devalues their value to the people who liked them at the time. Certainly they do no speak anything to the new generation.

The worse about this programmes?!
Well, I’ll tell you. The worse is that no one, never, or too rarely one sees A FULL PROGRAME.
No stories, no comments, no context, just Simply, only the programme. Eric and Ernie 1 hour. Ends there. The same for others. I saw a Bennie Hill, without commentary ( as Bennie intended then) loved it.

Last year saw some programmes about Dave Allen a great Oirish comedian, clever, witty and funny. Loved them. But when they start to say ‘what did Dave Allen did for uk-irish relations and people who touched/ who were touched slightly by Davey Allen, then I get sick.

Not complaining only about Britain, TV programmes during Christmas/ new year are the same the world over. If anyone knows a country with original programes and no repeats, let me know.
______________________/

Read on NewsPaper.

A lawyer in a usa ( state, this is guess the state true story) asked the policemen if he could give two sweets to his arrested client.
Police warned him not to do it. He said: I am gonna give them sweets to him, what are you gonna do, arrest me?
That is what they did. Arrested him and charged him with supply/ contraband or something I don’t remember… But arrested a lawyer for giving his clients two sweets.
CRUEL Police.
The blessed state starts with an A ( no, not Alaska, nope, not Alabama)

____________________________________/

What is it with people who only give Sat Navs for presents? Have 3 this year. One doesn’t even have a receipt, ( bought it on-line the cousin who gave it to me said, grinning) hmm the idiot.
[btw, I already havea garmin and a tom-tom ] one ahs to be shameless and say folks I need/ want this… haven’t managed that yet, but I am being pushed to the limit.
Well back to the shops to return two and on e-bay to sell the other one.

Most people are Sat-Naved up to the eyeballs. I remember myself on holiday the first things I did was to hire a car (in Malta) the 2-nd to ask where to buy a sat nav. The guy laughed, on seeing I was serious he said that one is being produced, but for now we have to do with a map. Well it suited me as I can read a map, and Malta can be learned in 3 hours.
The best part was if you asked someone to tell you where was Qawra or St pauls bay, marxxocala, buggiba and the person in the other car would say follow me ( some funny names over there, lol) after 15 min drive you were there.
I got out of the car, shaking his hand ( on his car) and asking thanks you maltese are great folks:
(LMAO –that is the better part) and the guy replied I am Italian,
Hmm, or german, or british) that’s what a small island does to you, makes one nicer.

Yesterday in North London, I was walking and someone asks me from a car:
Do you know where number 12 is? We are lost, the Satellite (polite shrug, shy smile here) keep bringing us in the same place and the number isn’t there.
Well three meters in front of tehm there was was a small gate, pedestrians and bikes only, turn left 2 meters there was number 12.
From the road one could see number 10 and then 14.
I could believe my eyes. 4 people on the car. Sane, reasonable Mum and Dad and two teens, looking lost with SAT NAV in middle of London.

Never though to leave the car and find that 10 and 14 usually have 12 in the middle, even if it isn’t in front of them. 5-7 steps was all it took.

Shame, I felt sorry for the human race. How do these folks shop, I found myself thinking. If they don’t find the frozen pizza, will they ever think it must be in the fridge…or just go to the fish counter? Don’t know. Maybe we need sat navs after all.

Technology is making us thickos, as families and as a race and the more we got, the less we think.

If a calamity befalls us, 90% of folks in this country lack the basic skills to light a fire, milk a chicken or kill a cow. That day will come, we are overdue a major disaster ( flu pandemic, losing millions to plague or…war) and the namby-pamby-playstation generation will die whingeing and unable to cook an egg.
(btw, if you guys are listening by chance- as this blog has few under 30’s, the emphasis is on the egg, not on cooking, eaten raw wont kill you)

What TIMeS do we live in?!

x-mas time… (didnt mean that)

hmm I know, I know...
Now New Year is in front.
The 'hungry' yeasterday hit the shops with fervour.
Shame, buying clothes and other silly things cos shops say there are up to 90% dsicounts.
LOL, the word is UP TO....
Up to...
up to...
But to whom am i telling this...
Rrofte Konsumerizmi.

[Robert Marchenoir]

Only senior citizens seem to populate this blog.

[PAUL 1st]

Would that the silent Solex could become obligatory for all: the 'laissez-faire' in the domaine of motorized two-wheelers makes a walk through the streets of almost any French town a penance, all the more if one suffers from hyperacusia. There is in fact a law, dating back to 1965, that the maximum noise should be 85bB at 1 meter (the rough equivalent of a loud shout). It is only rarely and haphazardly enforced.
What is more, the greatest number of deaths in the 14- to 25-year-old age-range are due to motorbike accidents. Also the car-drivers of the future acquire some very bad habits.
Neither do they pay any form of road tax, but then neither do motorists - that was a present offered by Laurent Fabius back in 1997: I wonder how many billions of euros in revenue have been lost over that period?

[Edward Johns]

I found the weight of the motor on the front wheel made the steering problematical-, even taking into account the fact that I was only about 12 when I first rode one in the early 60's.

[John Gregory Flinn]

"....The new Solex was criticised by the WWF earlier this month as something of a green sham since its production in a Chinese..."

Well they would would'nt they!
Never having created anything except a lot of misleading and, latterly, threatening propaganda, I am really surprised you embrace their jargon and give their opinions house-room Charles!

I seem to remember petrol-engine powered bikes being popular just after the war in the UK.

[Lex Stevens]

This has reminded me that when my son moved to Madrid twelve(?) years ago, at every major intersection one was accosted by a swarm of scooters. I don't remember seeing any the past couple of times we have been there. Parked cars, on the other hand, litter the curb and any other available, tarmacked space that isn't a right of way.

[azloon]

Blendi

re

tv, wii, sat nav, sad state of the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P3FW-YBRwg&feature=related

i get the idea you don't think that lawyer should have been arrested. you seem to forget that we have 'frontier justice' here in az. if the cops tell you not to give the prisoner candy, don't give 'em candy. simple. the guy's lucky he didn't get pistol-whipped.

i guess there was something about 'don't' the lawyer didn't understand? :)

[Anthony James Barnett - author]

Wow! Did this article just bring back memories. Saw several of them when I was a kid.

Makes a lot of sense - except in bad weather.

[ANNE]

@ PAUL 1st

What an old SPOILSPORT!! I love the thrill all over my body of revving up my bike real high. I had it tuned so as to 'épater le bourgeois' - your sort! And if we should pay to use the roads so should you on the sidewalks.
Sorry about the hyperacousia. Have you tried earplugs?

[D Yates]

Have a solex was recieved as a wedding present from a friend of my father in laws in scotland. We sent it to us in a tea chest had to figure 8 the tires to get them in. Dont ride it as much now as the law has changed and you need tags and insurance but still get it out now and then. remember seeing a whole lot of them in vietnam in the 60s and always liked them.

[Blendi PROGRI]

AZLOON, blowing 'em up seems the only choice.

I think this bike is ok, but vespa, is more iconic,
_________
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/felipe-fernandezarmesto-the-accidental-criminal-431881.html

Read this and see that the 'word' has reached us, lol.

But that is only Atlanta /Georgia.
an example would be:
Ma'am put your hand where I can see them!!!

Then werestling the suspect to the ground. All this for a simple stop and search. If this happened in Europe, people will get crossed.

But thats the right to bear guns for ya. Have the guns, but get on the ground, when asked to do so!
aND the people...the poor little people, ( when asked, even when not) they say, Guuns ( in my irish/ gerry adams accent, guuns) are to protect us from the central government. LOL.

We got guns and we are free.
Wel...
;)

(wel, I am saying it in my sri-lankan accent, ex-ceilon)

[PAUL 1st]

"....The new Solex was criticised by the WWF earlier this month as something of a green sham since its production in a Chinese..."

Well they would would'nt they!
"Never having created anything except a lot of misleading and, latterly, threatening propaganda, I am really surprised you embrace their jargon and give their opinions house-room Charles!"

Posted by: John Gregory Flinn

Is this a considered opinion?

"What an old SPOILSPORT!! I love the thrill all over my body of revving up my bike real high."

I suppose you take yourself for B.B. on her Harley Davidson.

[azloon]

BP (not PB)

you know my opinion about police everywhere. let's just say, not very high.

most here are doughnut-eating, steroidal imbeciles.

the british historian should have sued their asses, bigtime. he plainly is a wimp of the first magnitude, almost stereotypically so for a british academic. c'est dommage. as we know, it takes leather balls to play rugby. :)

these matters you bring up represent the seamy underbelly of the 'american dream.' you are right to point them out. they give lie to any claims we might make of being un example positif pour les autres (i feel compelled to use french words from time to time even if only to expose my illiteracy).

p.s. "blow up your TV, throw away your paper, go to the country, build you a home. plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches. try an find Jesus on your own ..."

[PAUL 1st]

Excuse me, Azloon, but what have "leather balls" got to do with "Rebirth for quirky old French bike"?

[Daniel Strohl]

AZLOON, BLENDI

BLENDI's link was a shock for me, since I "knew" Atlanta up to now only through the Ben Matlock detective stories. People seem to be quite civilised over there, apart from an occasional murder required to enhance Matlock's work :).

Through attentive reading of the linked article, I got the (false ? :) impression that the British academic was may be wearing unawaringly "des verres déformants" (deforming glasses ?). This seems to happen sometimes :)

[Blendi Progri]

[Excuse me, Azloon, but what have "leather balls" got to do with "Rebirth for quirky old French bike"?] by Paul 1st
_____

Yeah Azloon, what...

I am curious too.

People need an answer!
_____________________

(its so hard to find a connection, not impossible though)

(just waiting if the old sage from Alabama will use the 'La Peau de Chagrin' or just reply off-hand)

Waiting...

...

[Janos Szablya]

Bicycles are not issued a title nor are Electric bicycles which are now everywhere and ignored. Several very important points that separate the VeloSolex from the standard category of the many required licensed scooters and mopeds, that is; It is front wheel direct drive (no transmission, chain or sprocket drive), it can be pedaled as (and is) a standard bicycle when the motor is not in use and must be pedaled to get it moving.
We need to have easy access to cheap reliable local trnsportaion. With unified laws. Be it a Solex that gets 200mpg or an electric let the lawmakers be aware we would like to have all VeloSolex bicycles betreated for what they are Bicycles.

http://directory.usayfoundation.org
On behalf of all current and future owners the VeloSolex, please help solve this problem. Remeber you can ride your regular bike faster than a Solex...

[dot king]

BLENDI - I can't answer the "leather balls to play rugby" query, but I can tell you that such arrests take place in France too.

The Olympic athlete Eunice Barber was stopped, and ended up being rough-handled and charged with "outrage". I'll see if I can find a link . . .

http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/280306_BARBER_VIDEO.html

A summary of the offense, above -

and here's video from the time she got out of the car -

http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/280306_BARBER_VIDEO.html

(BTW I notice that the links are identical, but one leads to an article and the other to a video which I couldn't access from the article - anyway we shall see . . .)

If you don't read French, she'd been taking part in an athletics event and was leaving the stadium with her mother; she seemingly wanted to take a blocked-off road and then it's one word against the other: either she tried to force past the police barrier (which would be a bit daft really), or she didn't understand what they were gesticulating at her to do (which is parr for the course in France).
Whichever version you choose, the arrest is rather OTT.

The incident took place in 2006, but came to court only this November.
For a small misunderstanding, it could be any one of us.

I allow myself a second degree remark: E Barber is black, so obviously a prime target - but she was exiting an athletics meeting, and she is famous, so maybe they just wanted her autograph . . .
:-(

[azloon]

you need 'leather balls' (cojones) to live in this cruel world (and to play rugby), and this british prof obviously was a guy 'out of his element' on the 'mean streeets' of atlanta. he was an 'attractive nuisance' as we would say in american tort law (an unguarded swimming pool is an 'attractive nuisance', something with allure which invites a unwanted results).

the powerful play on the weak,* and this guy had 'weak victim' written all over him. if you'll notice, he had a certain 'whiney' quality to him, and a passive-aggressiveness, an insulting quality, that easily could have triggered the steroidal imbecility of the police.

it doesn't surprise me that he would rather complain about his treatment than sue the police bastards. an expensive legal settlement would have served them right and perhaps resulted in their better training. taxpayers don't take well to police whose stupidity costs them a lot of money. newspaper complaints don't have the same effect.

*Happy 2009, the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species.'

[Blendi Progri]

DANIEL S. I guess you got a point there.
AZLOON has also nailed when he said that 'suing them police' would have been a great idea.

but the point is that the guy is from uk/Eu, a continent where suing is rarely consumed.
So many in EU aren;t aware that jay-walking is in a legally, legalistic, legally punishable ofence in U.S of A.

I love Ameriga
( in my best afghan accent- the fixer in the Rambo movie

Another Happy Nawh Y. to everyone.

From Me.

:)

To You
_____________________________

Paul, I guess was trying to tick off the guy-from-the-desert (and he was right, going off topic shouldn't be encouraged, neither permited!) and I tried to do the same...LOL.

Joking guys, if we keep on topic the whole night, we'll go blue in the face.

Even CB, yes, CB, Himself, goes totally off topic, and there's nothing we can do but read.

And even when he is on-the-topic, and we go off the topic he couldn't care-less, he takes an aeroplane, yes just like that, and goes to a place where the old year is new year and the new year is old news.

Beat that!

And wonder...
LOL

[sedgwick]

I can't understand why the World Wrestling Federation always gets involved.