While putting together this collection of the Grind, I was reminded of an old Ani Difranco / Utah Phillips collaboration titled The Past Didn't Go Anywhere and the song "Bridges". As companies, designers and artists look to the future, they are often contemplating and considering what's happened in the past. And that's a good thing; brings comfort to the new. This blend mostly focuses on forward thinking while also looking back. Now, I'm off to stream a black and white movie from the cloud. Enjoy.

• Retirement is overrated - Good news. David Letterman is returning to TV in 2018 with a new Netflix series.
• Still blue about purple - "Love Symbol #2" is Pantone's new color dedicated to Prince.
• Astronomers Without Borders - Yesterday those eclipse glasses were priceless, today not so much. But you can still do something good with them.
• Avatar - Not the James Cameron movie, but your doctor of the future.
• Smart Toys - Mabot makes STEM learning toys fun...and they actually connect to Legos you already own.
• Paper Clouds - The Rocketbook Wave Notebook is a microwavable paper notebook that sends your doodles and notes to the cloud and...erases itself.

• Creepy Crawly Jewelry - MIT's Kino project explores a dynamic future in which the accessories we wear are no longer static, but are instead mobile, living objects on the body

• Positively Glowing - The Volleback solar charged jacket is the outerwear of the future.

• I Can't Put My Arms Down! - In even more what's old is new again news, Fox has greenlit "A Christmas Story" Live TV Musical. Which actually sounds scary bad and unnecessary until you read it will star Maya Rudolph and produced by the makers of La La Land. So, maybe they won't shoot their eye out afterall. (Sorry)
• Ingenious Gender Pay Gap Solution - Handsome Her, a vegan café in Melbourne, Australia, designed as a place “by women for women,” opened earlier this month with an 18 percent tax for male customers — a move designed to raise awareness of Australia’s proven gender pay gap.
• Flying High - The New England Patriots are the first NFL team to have their own planes.
• Cadillac dreams - Imagine shopping at a car dealership that has no cars on hand.

• Vintage Charm - I want an Eadon Green ‘Black Cuillin’ Coupe. Now. 

• Never a dull moment - 11 Retro-Style Knife Sharpener Vans that will make you believe the golden age of hand-delivered household services is not a thing of the past.

• KEXP's New Digs - Located in one of Seattle’s landmarked buildings that once housed a part of the 1962 World’s Fair, famed public radio station KEXP now finds itself reborn as a space that helps people connect through music. The 25,000 square foot complex is outfitted with a 50,000+ album music library, live performance spaces, DJ booths, workstations, a library, conference rooms, and a coffee retail concept from Italian espresso maker, La Marzocco.

• Hallelujah and Amen - Art student designs clothes that stretch with kids as they grow.
• Unabridged - Designer suspends tiny hidden art studio under a bridge.
• Art Makes Society Kinder - A gentle reminder on something we've always known but seem to have forgotten.
• Sound Design - Meet artists Dave & Gabe who are making sound an interactive experience.

...The Last Drop