Who bought Blueprint 3 today? I am a bonafide Jay-Z stan, so I pulled my normal pre-Jigga release move yesterday: listened to the “Best of Jay-Z” playlist on my ipod and watched every interview I could find. Despite the fact that Stephen A. Smith is horrible and Harry Allen is a major league herb, this conversation is pretty interesting and demonstrates how preceptive Jay is. He has one important characteristic lacking in the majority of stars: self-awareness.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get tickets to the big show at MSG, but I’m gonna catch it on FUSE TV starting at 9 (channel 132 for you New Yawkers with Time Warner). Let’s do the math: 9/11 benefit, sold-out garden, album release day. I think it will be classic.

Anyway, I’ve been pretty quiet round these parts lately, but I don’t count me out yet. I’ve got something pretty cool lined up for you in the near future. In the meantime, here’s my favorite joint off BP3:

So far this whole Royce track is leading the pack. On the lookout for more contenders…

This little video has got me itching to get back to Seattle for some more fun on mountain bikes. The I-5 Colonnade is really an incredible thing to have in your city.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to kick it in the studio with one of Harlem’s finest, Sheist Bubz. In case you didn’t know, Sheist is known for many things: moving discs as a stalwart of the mixtape circuit, holding it down as a long-standing Dipset affiliate, calling himself “the Emperor,” and being a Varsity letterman in 10th grade. But having enjoyed the pleasure of spending a couple “Purple City” certified hours with him on Saturday (get me!?), I now know there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Sheist is not only one of the more gracious and genuinely funny guys I’ve met in a while, but he’s also full of surprises—like when he pulled out a membership to the New York Racquet Club and proceeded to describe a tennis outfit that included more Gucci items than I knew existed. I sincerely hope we’ll get the chance to play in the near future. Sheist Vs. Gritz: Battle of the Sexists. (Only joking—neither of us are sexists.)

A recent rummage in the closet at my mom’s house uncovered these gems, which I purchased in Houston during NBA All-Star Weekend in 2006. While most people were hunting down the special edition Kobes and Brons, I was smitten with these white high-top Reebok classics, classily decorated with logos of all-star games past. (Apologies for the crap Blackberry images.)

You know I love nothing more than a good round of miniature golf, so needless to say I had to check out the course that has recently popped up at South Street Seaport, just a 15 minute walk from my apartment.

I just stumbled on this 10 minute documentary about the Dugout, a baseball card collector’s store in Brooklyn. It brought back a lot of memories of the countless hours I spent as a kid opening packs, going to card shows and flea markets, and organizing cards in my closet. It also reminds me of when I used to hustle cards on the playground in 2nd grade. Salad days…

What to say about the Barcelona trip? I’m still struggling to process the fact that it actually happened. At various points during the trip, my friend Nate and I just looked at each other like, “What the FUCK?! This is the jam and I don’t know why we are even here!” Moments like these included sitting third row, center pitch at the Barca-Sevilla match; meeting Samuel Eto and Yaya Touré; consuming a suckling pig; and getting it in at the insane spa at the NH Constanza, which featured not one, not two, but four types of relaxing jacuzzi jets. I can’t say enough thanks to Jose Rey from FC Barcelona and John Logsdon of Malaria No More for laying out the red carpet for us. It was truly an amazing trip. (Here is a little news release the team put out about our visit. If this is what being a “PR monkey” means, sign me up for full-time duty!)

Right now I am throwing some clothes in a bag and getting ready to fly to Barcelona for an all-expenses paid trip to see a Barca FC v. Sevilla soccer match. How did this happen? I’m up against the clock to get to the airport, but I’ll give you the brief version of the story because it is awesome.

In the never-ending quest to understand bammas and their bamma-ass tendencies, I caught up with Collin O’Brien at Clockwise Clothing. Being that the Clockwise folks are from the DMV and support a “bamma free” lifestyle, I thought they might be able to shed some more light on the phenomenon of bammadom. Peep the interview after the jump.