[Let's be real, in college, the pre-game is almost as important as the actual party. Besides a killer outfit, a case of booze & a few good pals, the most essential part of any pre-game party is the playlist. So, we made it easy for you: every Thursday here at CC we'll be building you the ultimate pre-party playlist and bringing it to you through our favorite thing ever, MixWit. All you have to do is just click, play & enjoy. So hook up your laptop speakers, bust out your 40's & get ready to pre-game harder than those other kids party.]

After looking at smokin’ hot pics of Faith Hill, I started to get a little nostalgic for middle school and her super-catchy hit, “This Kiss.” So, I decided to craft my first weekly pre-game playlist around my memories of songs that I used to LOVE in middle school. I’ve tried to include a little bit of everything – from the classics like *NSYNC and Hanson to lesser-known one-hit wonders like Samantha Mumba. It’s crazy the different meanings I get from some of these songs now. Seriously…”MMMBop” is some deep sh*t!

If you’re looking for a playlist to share with a mixed crowd, this might not be your best bet. But if you’re chillin’ with a group of girls & ready to travel back to the 90′s with all it’s boy bands, flare jeans and glitter eyeshadow (and after a few drinks, who isn’t?) – then enjoy!

Get the party started here.

[If you have suggestions for future playlist themes or have a track you really think should be included in a future installment, let us know in the comments!]

While I may be one of the only people still undecided for the upcoming election, I came across something today that I thought was important to share with you all. A girl I know posted a video on her Facebook status and I had nothing better to do except check it out (and by that I mean, of course I had a million things better to do but procrastination seemed like the best choice).

Anyway she posted this video showing John Mccain from last March swearing numerous times to an NY Times reporter.

It already has over one hundred thousand views.

The only problem is: it’s not true. Far from it actually.

Take a look at the ORIGINAL video; it is true that the clip is showing McCain on edge when being pressed about his private conversations with John Kerry. However, he did not swear during the interview. Not even once. And now, because some guy with too much time on his hands got crafty with his computer gadget editing tools, over one hundred thousand people are judging his character over something that is just not true. Read More »

We’ve always gone nuts for celebrities.

Back in the day it was Shirley Temple, Judy Garlin, and Marilyn Monroe.

Rock stars came into vogue and screaming fans chased Elvis and fainted at Beatles concerts.

Jumping ahead to my youth, the teen pop sensations Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears generated thousands of crushes and screaming fans. (Editor’s Note: Does it make me old to remember the New Kids on the Block insanity!?)

But now with the rise of superstar Miley Cyrus, we’ve entered a new level of celebrity idolization—one that has some worrying ramifications for our tween sisters. (The Olson twin fascination, in my opinion, is a bizarre isolated event along the lines of The Truman Show)

The Miley-hype has broken several barriers which I think are important to note:

1. Her youth

Although Hillary Duff set the stage for achieving tween stardom via a Disney channel show, Duff began at the age of 14 with 2.3 million viewers per episode while Miley Cyrus began at the age of 12 with 5.4 million viewers during the series premiere. Read More »

Ah my dream guy, he is tall, dark, handsome, sweet, sincere, funny, and the list goes on until he is well, perfect. (Note: Not the guy to the right.)

I know, I know, there is no such thing as the “perfect” guy (so says my mother) but there is nothing wrong with having a list of qualities (doesn’t pick his nose, even when I am not looking, will rub my shoulders at the snap of my fingers) that I want in a potential boyfriend right? Right.

But after reading this article in the NYT, I have started to realize that while focusing so much on the type of guy I DO want (Has Jake Gyllenhaal broken up with Reese yet?!) perhaps I haven’t realized that there are certain types I DON’T. Things that maybe weren’t even a blip on my guy-dar and if not heeded could end up blowing up in my face.

So here it is ladies: The Guys Not Worth Taking, Dating, Marrying and the like:

Never date a dude who has no friends. At first, this rule seems a bit odd- if he has no friends, he will be close to me and only me! How wonderfully fantastic!! That is until you realize… no friends means the guy is unable to be intimate or close to anyone… yes, even you.

Besides, that means you will always feel guilty leaving him alone and friendless on a girls night out. Read More »

Through the years, I’ve slept with a lot more people in my mind than I’ve slept with in the physical sense. Actually, the latter number would be zero, but that’s not the point. The point is…in my mind, I’ve been with some of Hollywood’s finest. And yeah, I’ve had my memorable moments, but let’s face it: if Indiana Jones forgets your name and is out of town 90% of the time, can you honestly say he’s boyfriend material?

Here’s the lowdown on all the hotties I’ve mentally massaged:

Indiana Jones: Indy makes his love much like you might describe him: rough and dirty. Holy cow, he sure is good in bed, but it’s a little weird that he never takes that fedora off. He also doesn’t seem to care much about protection (I think he fed me a line like, “Where do you think I’m going to get a condom? CVS?”), and he never calls in the morning… probably because he seems to think my name is “Veronica.”

Nick Carter: The baby face of the Backstreet Boys is pretty inexperienced, and it shows. When you’re sleeping with Nick, you smile because he’s just so darn cute, but there’s also a part of you that wants to hightail it out of there as soon as possible. Yeah, it always seems like a good idea at first, but most often I find myself snaking through the piles of video games to get out of his room at 5 in the morning. Read More »

Valentine’s Day. Blah, blah, blah. I really have nothing to say about this holiday other than I’m sure certain people love it. Being stricken with the flu for three days does nothing to brighten a girl’s demeanor, and V-Day has never been high on my list of days to get excited about.

I don’t own a card store. I’ve never dated anyone who’d be pulling diamonds out of his pocket, and it’s always been strange to me that we need certain days to prove we love one another.

Sorry about being a screwup for 364 days, honey. Here’s some chocolates and a bear. Let’s make up.

ANYway, all annoyance aside, I’m aware that there are other opinions about February 14th. Some people love this day. Seriously. Can’t get enough. And other people…?

Well, they use it as an excuse to lie on their bed, stare at the ceiling, eat a box of chocolates all themselves, and go all melancholy about why they have no one.

If you’re one of these, have I got the mix for you.

Below is a list of songs guaranteed to help those tears, and dear god whys?!, flow. Read More »

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it can take me a while to get into the academic-paper-writing mood of zen. A long while. Like…several months.

Since I don’t usually have that kind of luxury to juggle around class deadlines, I do fun writing exercises to help me get in the mood. They’re easy, short, and they really will help your writing skills get better, so you can snag the high grades you need. Try these, or make up your own.

• Journaling. I don’t mean the kind of journaling that your sixth-grade teacher made you do about your summer vacation. I mean real journaling about what you really care about. Write a page about how much of a douchebag your ex is, or a few paragraphs about your favorite kind of chocolate and why exactly you love it so much. Loosening your writing muscles will help you get better starts on your papers.

• Songwriting. Come on. We’ve all listened to a Backstreet Boys song or two and thought to ourselves, “My four-year-old cousin could write better lyrics than those.” So why not prove it? Rather than calling up your baby cousin, do it yourself. A quick exercise like scribbling down a song will give you more creative, open ideas about the content and outlets of your academic writing. Read More »

Backstreets back, alright!

These boy-banders evidently refuse to give up. Sure, Nick Carter briefly dated D-lister Kathy Griffin, and A.J. McClean might’ve gone on Oprah to recount his drug addictions & battle with alcoholism, but these boys are all, (well, almost all, Kevin Richardson – the old one – opted out, wisely so) determined to reclaim the hearts of glittery prepubescent tweenies all across America.

Their first single, Inconsolable, is scheduled to be released August 27th, one day before my 19th birthday (evidently, this must be their twisted idea of an acceptable gift?)

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but after their first three-year hiatus, didn’t they release that whiney desperate-ex-boyfriend-type song Incomplete in 2005? And apparently, they’ve run out of adequate song titles, and have now resorted to adding prefixes to any word that tickles their fancy. Read More »

“Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for

Everything I do – I do it for you”

Oh Bryan, how many times have I secretly turned that song up in the car, letting that raspy voice of yours lull me into a romantic haze? You’re my secret boyfriend. And that song you sing with Sting (my other secret boyfriend) and Rod Stewart (who I don’t want to be my boyfriend at all) where you all urge me to make it “all for one and all for love” has the ability to transport me out of my cynical cloud for two whole minutes.

I’m not ashamed of my secret soft spot for soft rock. I’m not embarrassed that whenever a Backstreet Boys ballad mysterious turns up on my iTunes, I let it play out entirely, soaking up every syrupy sound wave. In this complicated world, soft rock is there to pretend things are simple. Love is love, heartbreak is heartbreak, and everyone is willing to die for a lifetime with their soul mate. After weekends full of “hey baby, why don’t me and you go into the bathroom and make out?”, it’s always nice to know Phil Collins is there, waiting to tell me he “can’t stop loving me” as many times as I feel like replaying the track. Read More »

Say I have bad taste in music; say I am so not a hipster. But I miss the good old days of cheesy, catchy, can’t get it out of your head, ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ pop music.

Sure the bubble gum pop craze got slammed by the critics as unoriginal/awful/insert any bad name you can think of here. But face it. What music do you pre-game to? What music do you run to at the gym?

Not Jack Johnson. Don’t even kid yourself.

We all know that screaming, dancing sing alongs to ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back Alright)’, ‘It’s Tearin Up My Heart’ and all the other boy band music hullabaloo is what makes taking that 5th shot so much more fun.

You may have dissed it at the time but admit it, you miss … Read More »