Anasigma has a whole Department of Evil Swivel Chairs. It’s hard to get the right balance of smooth, silent action while still being comfortable and ergonomic.
The problem with Evil Swivel Chairs is the pneumatic columns are frequently leaky after a few weeks, and the paperwork to get them is only slightly less evil than the shoe polishing training program.
Wrong. Evil swivel chairs don’t have pneumatic columns at all. They’re evil. They have the old threaded columns, so you have to spin the seat around 43 times to get it to the right height.
Actually, if he had a contingency that covers the development then it’s still going according to plan. Up until the moment that the contingency *also* gets derailed, of course! 🙂
You know, I know it’s a narrative trope but I’m curious- have any of you ever worked for or with someone who unironically did the whole “staring out the window with their back facing you only to swivel around dramatically in the middle of the conversation” thing?
Nah. Vetinari just understands people. He actually surrounds himself with, if not competent, then exceedingly useful people. He knows which ones to apply to a problem and how to apply them, even if he specifically has to order them NOT to work on the problem so that they do work on it.
well I’m still trying to get around how getting transformed in a lizard was a master move, but who know the plan.
I liked the first period Vetinari who failed
I liked the second who never failed
I never could do anything with the third that was an excuse for Pratchett to yell “tax, tax, tax”.
“Lord Vetinari principle” in Google search turns up nothing specific, just generic information about the character (I need to read Discworld one of these years…) and his cynical view that what people actually want is status quo.
What I immediate thought of was that Green is familiar with the Xanatos Gambit trope, where someone (usually a villain) devises a plan where every foreseeable outcome at every stage of the plan will ultimately benefit them, or at least not harm them – even if they lose, they still win, or at least draw.
As I recall, Miles himself said something like that in “The Vor Game”. Which, as I also seem to recall, was written after Jim Baen urged Bujold to read a book or two on military strategy.
Let’s see, evil plans, swivel chair, exceedingly smug . . . When is Mr. Green going to start wearing the hooded robe and cackling about the Dark Side of science?
One wonders what comes after atom bombs. Purloined mad science weapons? Professor Farnsworth (definitely a member of the Mad community) had four or five doomsday devices just lying around in his house…
This bomb didn’t do too badly even if it didn’t achieve its primary objective. The next step is clearly more bombs. I’m sure they know someone who’s built a doomsday device, Dr. Strangelove style.
Yeah, he has a weakness for swivel chairs.
I do enjoy a nice swivel chair, and having enough plans to win is always a nice bonus. 🙂
+1
Oh I do love a swivel chair when I’m scheming.
And minions. Minions with nice shoes.
I consider big hats to be more important.
Big hats with a little undying flame on top, and your name emblazoned across the front.
Anasigma has a whole Department of Evil Swivel Chairs. It’s hard to get the right balance of smooth, silent action while still being comfortable and ergonomic.
The problem with Evil Swivel Chairs is the pneumatic columns are frequently leaky after a few weeks, and the paperwork to get them is only slightly less evil than the shoe polishing training program.
Wrong. Evil swivel chairs don’t have pneumatic columns at all. They’re evil. They have the old threaded columns, so you have to spin the seat around 43 times to get it to the right height.
Actually, if he had a contingency that covers the development then it’s still going according to plan. Up until the moment that the contingency *also* gets derailed, of course! 🙂
It’s contingencies all the way down.
Evil laugh….check
swivel chair…check
henchmen…check
plans….plans….where did I put that notebook??
But where is the purring fat cat in his lap?
(And his secret base on a volcano island?)
Faffery! Evil doesn’t require cat, nor volcano! It could be a scary dog! Or a corporate boardroom!
Apparently someone has never watched Inspector Gadget. Or James Bond. That makes me sad. A cat in the lap is essential. Anything else is second-rate.
Golly. Now I *really* want to read Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Lap”!
This being Anasigma, the cat likely has obviously been extirpated.
I agree that a cat is essential – preferably a white Persian long haired one. No villain can properly exposit without one.
PS I may be biased …
Any time a villain has a cat in his lap, then the cat is the one in charge.
“***A*** cat in the lap is essential.”
[expects HT to exploit the opportunity for infiltration]
Robert, even when the cat is not in the villain’s lap, the cat is the one in charge.
It is sometimes hard to find a good swivel chair
You know, I know it’s a narrative trope but I’m curious- have any of you ever worked for or with someone who unironically did the whole “staring out the window with their back facing you only to swivel around dramatically in the middle of the conversation” thing?
…yes
Oh, yes. And their face was painted like a clown. It was all I could do to not laugh.
I hope this isn’t one of those “failing to succeed” things. Everybody gets depressed.
Ooh, Mr Green believes in the Lord Vetinari principle. That is worryingly genre savvy of him.
Nah. Vetinari just understands people. He actually surrounds himself with, if not competent, then exceedingly useful people. He knows which ones to apply to a problem and how to apply them, even if he specifically has to order them NOT to work on the problem so that they do work on it.
Just remember, as long as you’re the only one who knows the plan, then as far as everyone else knows, everything always goes according to plan.
http://www.shaenon.com/monsteroftheweek/2014/05/30/05302014/
well I’m still trying to get around how getting transformed in a lizard was a master move, but who know the plan.
I liked the first period Vetinari who failed
I liked the second who never failed
I never could do anything with the third that was an excuse for Pratchett to yell “tax, tax, tax”.
“Lord Vetinari principle” in Google search turns up nothing specific, just generic information about the character (I need to read Discworld one of these years…) and his cynical view that what people actually want is status quo.
What I immediate thought of was that Green is familiar with the Xanatos Gambit trope, where someone (usually a villain) devises a plan where every foreseeable outcome at every stage of the plan will ultimately benefit them, or at least not harm them – even if they lose, they still win, or at least draw.
Now I’m wondering how many movie villains spend all of their time when they’re not onscreen practicing their dramatic swivel.
So Mr. Green is attempting a Xanatos Gambit? I wonder if he’s actually good enough to pull it off.
That thing about scheming is almost the same as something said by a villain in one of the Vorkosigan novels by Lois M. Bujold.
All villains are imperfect approximations of the Platonic ideal villain. Who is sitting on the Platonic ideal swivel chair.
As I recall, Miles himself said something like that in “The Vor Game”. Which, as I also seem to recall, was written after Jim Baen urged Bujold to read a book or two on military strategy.
The one where the villainess would have won, if she’d stuck with *any* of her plans, rather than flipping them for the slightest perceived advantage?
That’s the one, which is indeed ‘The Vor Game’.
It went all according to plan. The nuke blowing nothing up—grand. But all of their scheming is alternate dreaming and a nice swivel chair is at hand.
I like this one.
Let’s see, evil plans, swivel chair, exceedingly smug . . . When is Mr. Green going to start wearing the hooded robe and cackling about the Dark Side of science?
One wonders what comes after atom bombs. Purloined mad science weapons? Professor Farnsworth (definitely a member of the Mad community) had four or five doomsday devices just lying around in his house…
Establish a time loop, so the last strip links to the first…
With a quick stop for breakfast at Milliways.
This bomb didn’t do too badly even if it didn’t achieve its primary objective. The next step is clearly more bombs. I’m sure they know someone who’s built a doomsday device, Dr. Strangelove style.