Arrived

Have arrived in Canberra with a week's worth of clothes and excessive quantities of Wife Cake. Canberra put on an eclipse of the moon to welcome me back, which I thought was awfully decent. Welcome function to new work at 3pm today, then official start tomorrow morning. Spent the taxi ride to the station yesterday discussing error analysis with the driver, which seems auspicious.

Some happy news yesterday, but I can't share it quite yet, so I'll just hint mysteriously :-)

They what?

Had the welcome-and-introduction at new work this afternoon; the real thing starts at 9am tomorrow. Probably more on that anon, but during the tour I asked something about the surrounding buildings and our guide mentioned that they are now protected by heritage listing as a 'classical example of Brutalist architecture.' Er, WTF?

As anybody who's lived in Canberra knows (although they might not have encountered the name), Brutalist is one of the ugliest styles imaginable. The basic idea is "big, blocky, unpainted grey concrete and LOTS OF IT". (Here's a flattering photo of the High Court with a lot of sunlight on it; in the flesh it looks far, far drabber.) But my personal tastes aside, the idea that Brutalism needs preservation is ludicrous. Half the public buildings in Canberra were built back when it was the trendy new thing; High Court, Art Gallery, School of Music, and a crapload of government offices are all built that way, eyesores in what's otherwise a very pretty city IMHO.

In fact, my workplace-to-be is one of the few buildings in that area that aren't Brutalist (thank goodness!)