Academic Underground

So, life got a little in the way last week in ways I won't go into, but having returned 'life-as-usual' I'm back to blogging too.

What I want to write about today is about something, up until now, I thought only existed in fiction and The Sims 2. What am I talking about? Secret societies. After a little more reading, I am aware there are several famous ones both in the US and Oxbridge here in the UK. (However, famous secret societies seem something of a contradiction).

What has surprised me even more is that there's a secret society in my own university! Apparently, this is a society for whisky lovers known only (unsurprisingly) as 'The Secret Whisky Society'. Amongst all the rumours and myths, I've gathered some intelligence on how to join said society. According to the legend, you need to present a bottle of whisky to society members when there are at least three present at one time. There are two catches to this seemingly simple plan:

1. You must present a bottle of whisky the society hasn't seen before. If you give them one they've already got, they drink it and you don't get in. Present a new bottle and you get in (but they still drink it).
2. No one knows who is in the society, apart from members of the society themselves.

I only know this from a friend who inadvertantly discovered the identity of one of the members, who was telling a story about how another academic had been boasting about being in the secret whisky society. However, our own academic knew he wasn't because he was a member himself! It's very convoluted, but I have to applaud their dedication to the cause. How cool is your society, if people are lying about being in it?!

Not only that, but I've heard tell of another society coming to life in the university. I don't know much about that one, but I'll do some digging. Maybe I can even join! Let's just say it's one of the things on my "Cool things to do other than my PhD" list.