Smile: There's a Fun Week Ahead

Enjoy...

This is ridiculous.

-- Ally Bank: Seriously Anything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpuZoDS57TI

-- On Star: Accidents Happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO745fc2yxo

-- IBM: Let's Put Smart to Work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh8n2dCDHVk

-- Domino's: Timber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtI58OJMBaU

-- GEICO: Lost in the Couch: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dYIL/geico-lost-in-the-couch

--Progressive: The Safeys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU7aK0bXqJI

-- GEICO: The GEICO Airshow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMcvcPLQwr8

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report: 

Amazon's Echo Blabs Out of Turn.

Musical Moments: Taps

Honoring all who serve...

An airman salutes as Taps is played.

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Today's selection is Taps in honor all who have served and are serving on this Memorial Day weekend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfe4TxvUOiw

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report: 
Smile: There's a Fun Week Ahead.

Darien Posts an Uptick in Real Estate Activity

Weekly update...

Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Darien posted an uptick in residential real estate activity for the week ending today.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- 20 new listings of property for sale;

-- 17 price changes;

-- Nine accepted offers;

--Two properties going under contract, and

-- Eight closings.

For more: 

Next time on The Allen Report:

Musical Moments: Taps.

Frogs and Rosbifs

A common language...

Snoopy, the World War I flying ace, enjoying an evening out in a French village.

The mutual fascination of the British and the French — or, more accurately, the English and the French — is hardly a surprise, economist.com reports.

To mock the “frogs” as posturing, self-interested intellectuals is a staple of the English press, and not just the tabloids. Their French counterparts find it easy to caricature les rosbifs as pink-faced philistines. 

For more, including reviews on two books that point out how English and French have influenced each other in England and France's long love-hate history: https://www.economist.com/node/690898

Can there be exceptions to the rules? You bet.

Photos: Facebook, Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report: 
The Latest Darien Real Estate Update.

A New White House Problem: A Growing Sinkhole

Cover up...

There's a growing sinkhole at the White House.  Blame the swamp, really. 

Construction on the U.S. White House began in 1792, Heather Timmons reports on qz.com.

It has been almost continuously occupied by U.S. presidents since 1800, barring a few years after the British set it on fire in 1814, Timmons wrote.

But that doesn't mean that the present-day building is free of hazards -- there are mice, cockroaches and ants.

And as of this past weekend, a sinkhole has been growing on the north lawn, Voice of America reporter Steve Herman observed, near the press briefing room, Timmons added.

For more: https://qz.com/1284955/donald-trumps-white-house-has-a-growing-sinkhole-on-the-north-lawn/amp/

For how the Internet is responding with Cover Up, Deep State at Work, Drain the Swamp and more: http://www.iflscience.com/environment/a-sinkhole-appeared-on-the-white-house-lawn-and-the-internet-is-responding-appropriately/

For a CNN report: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/05/22/politics/white-house-sinkhole/index.html

Photo: Giphy.

Next time on The Allen Report: 
Frogs and Rosbifs.

Putin's New Wonder Weapon Flunks Tests

Nuclear-powered missile crashes -- four times...

Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged earlier this year that his country had a new nuclear-powered missile with unlimited range -- but it has yet to perform a successful test over multiple attempts, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report on the weapons program, Amanda Marcus reports on cbnc.com.

The cruise missile was tested four times between November and February, each resulting in a crash, according to sources who spoke to CNBC on condition of anonymity, Marcus wrote.

The U.S. assessed that the longest test flight lasted just more than two minutes, with the missile flying 22 miles before losing control and crashing.  The shortest test lasted four seconds and flew for five miles, she added.

For more: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/05/21/russian-missile-with-unlimited-range-crashed-after-only-22-miles.html

For another report on the new missile: https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/j5kp5x/russias-new-unlimited-range-nuclear-cruise-missile-can-fly-just-22-miles?utm_source=vicenewsfb

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
A New White House Problem: A Growing Sinkhole.

Changes Killing the Funeral Business

A shift to event planning...

Every minute more than 100 people die, economist.com reports.

Most of these deaths bring not just grief to some, but also profit to others, the news service wrote.

America's 2.7m-odd deaths a year underpin an industry worth $16bn in 2017, encompassing over 19,000 funeral homes and over 120,000 employees.

But in some of the world a profound shift is under way in what people want from funerals, the service noted.

In North America, the modern undertaker's job is increasingly one of event-planning, economist wrote.

For more on changes like tiki huts, margaritas and pizza: https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740399-bereaved-better-informed-no-longer-always-do-what-they-are-told-or-pay-whatever-they?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/whyundertakersareworriedmakingthereapercheaper

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Putin's Wonder Weapon Flunks Tests.