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tkdunning · 3 months ago

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Today's practice:

Major & melodic minor scales. Melodic minor is starting to commit to memory - it's tricky since my ears are much more used to harmonic minor due to classical training. If I'm not starting on the root note it's easier to get lost. Melodic minor is also a bit tougher on the left hand in terms of reach.

Practiced 'Ignorance - Paramore' against the original track. It's a simple arrangement but it is faster than expected. I tend to fall behind and have unclean playing during the "gallop" riff. I also need to work on cleaner strumming - my downstrokes favor the lower strings and the upstrokes the upper strings, which results in a see-sawing effect at higher speeds instead of full chord tones. Mostly an issue during the solo section. Will also need to practice muting the other strings better.

Less reading study today. Only did one page but reading it was faster than yesterday.

One-passed Saucy - Polyphia at higher speed today. Need to practice the 'B' section more. There are some issues with the hammer-ons/pull-offs as well as the picking patterns on the faster sections. Overall much cleaner than yesterday.

Might lay off the Jazz III picks for a bit since they are not really a fun time if I need to strum or attack the strings differently. Medium picks felt good for strumming in Ignorance, but the gallop has less control. I crave control!! Returning to the Tortex 'Sharp' heavy pick felt like the best compromise as long as my picking hand stays relatively relaxed.

Remind me to never get a angled instrument cable ever again (at least for guitar). It causes mobility issues if I play standing up, and at it's worst it will cause amp noises as the cable jack rotates in the guitar. The coiled instrument cable is nice for keeping a space clean and uncluttered but the strain it puts on the cable ends when it gets pulled taut is a bit worrying. As of now, my favorite cable is my braided cable, even though it's angled. Thinking about getting a straight/straight version to become my go-to cable. Looked into some micro amps (battery powered) as a quality of life upgrade in practicing. I don't 'need' these, but I could see them being incredibly freeing in a more restrictive living situation. The Fender Mustang Micro seems like an okay budget option. The BOSS Waza-Air seems kinda goated not gonna lie, but $300+ for a quality of life upgrade is not worth it right now. Having zero cables is kinda insane. If it had a built-in metronome it would be god-tier.

Edit: Turns out you can use a metronome app and/or have background music playing while the Waza-Air is being used, so I guess it's actually god-tier? Might invest in these at a later time. Actually seems really useful. Would bypass the weird white noise/rumble that exists in my current practice environment, and would allow me to practice more freely outside of the stuffy/hot/humid basement. Speaking of metronomes, I've been having a lot of trouble hearing mine over the amp. Unsure if my ears are just getting bad or if the acoustics in this house are just weird, mushy, and bass heavy (pretty sure it's the latter). This is a bit of an issue because what I need to practice more than almost anything is perfecting my timing and also pushing faster speeds WITH strict timing. This is infinitely harder than pushing speeds without a metronome and leads to much better playing, so some sort of solution needs to be found. Might be as simple as sticking a earphone into the metronome but I would strongly prefer being able to use both ears to hear both instrument and metronome.

Have a couple packs of 10-46 NYXL strings arriving today, but might hold off a bit on putting them on, even though my Ernie Ball Slinky's are already corroded after maybe a month? I think the humidity/temp inconsistency/airflow in the basement wreaks havoc on strings (I don't have a guitar case to protect them when not playing).

#self

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an-amalgamation-of-things · 4 years ago

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Danger? At the Dojo

Part 4 of 'The five times Alex didn't realise he met Yassen Gregorovich and the one time he did'

Guess what? Alex bumps into Yassen again!! And of course he has a Spy Kids themed birthday party - the irony of that is not lost on Ian but Alex has a great time!

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Ian felt the breath knocked out of him as his back slammed into the ground. His bruised lung and cracked ribs were aching from the gunshot injury that he had sustained just a couple of days previously, but he had fought with worse injuries than this before (one particular incident where he fought his way out of an enemy compound with a broken arm and a bullet wound in his leg sprung to mind). He might be slightly encumbered, but he would be able to continue fighting. His opponent, who was currently pinning him to the floor, was clearly enjoying himself. This was definitely not how he had planned to spend his Saturday morning.

“Careful,” he whispered into the assassin’s ear. “Remember you shot me two days ago.”

“I shot your body armour. The worst you have is some bruising.”

“And a couple of cracked ribs.” Yassen looked at him with surprise in his eyes, but his face was otherwise emotionless.

“You need to get your bosses to invest in some better protection.”

“I’ll pass the message on,” he whispered dryly, and then, using the conversation to his advantage, he knocked the assassin’s legs from underneath him and now the fight was going in his favour. He was pinning Yassen to the floor, in a complete role reversal of just a few moments ago. He jumped to his feet and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender before offering his hand to help Yassen to his feet.

Thankfully, he took it without throwing Ian back to the floor, which he almost certainly would have done if Ian wasn’t injured and they weren’t doing a demonstration for Alex’s karate class. The nine children were looking at them with wide-eyed amazement at the fight that they had just witnessed.

“A round of applause for our volunteer,” Yassen said, and the kids needed no further prompting before bursting into enthusiastic applause and cheers. Ian held his hands up humbly, before making his way back to the far end of the hall where the other parents were sitting. Meanwhile, Yassen was now taking the kids through the mechanics of the Kuzushi Waza while they followed his instructions, punching and kicking the air in unison.

When Ian was at home, he loved taking Alex to his karate class. It was a way for them to bond and it gave him a sense of security to know that Alex would be able to protect himself if he was targeted because of his job. Admittedly, anyone who targeted Alex because of Ian would have no qualms about using extreme force, but at least he wouldn’t be completely helpless.

It had been about three months after they had been held hostage by Yassen and the other Scorpia operatives in Liverpool that Ian had been able to get him into his first karate class. He had planned to get Alex the lessons for his sixth birthday, but work had been so hectic that he had been unable to sign him up in time. That afternoon in Liverpool had reminded him how important it was, and he put Alex’s name down on the waiting list when they had arrived home that evening>. Even though Alex hadn’t been in any danger that day (Yassen had explained as much in the apology note that he had covertly passed to Ian), it had been too close for comfort to think that his nephew’s life hung so precariously in the balance. If it had been anyone other than Yassen in charge of the operation, things could have ended very differently.

He had come home from his latest mission only the day before. Everything had been going fine until Yassen appeared. They were both with other agents from their respective organisations, so neither held back when they ended up being forced into hand to hand combat. Their fight ended when one of the other MI6 agents took their opponent down and came to help, and Yassen shot them both in the chest. He had known that they were wearing body armour so wouldn’t be seriously injured and used the few seconds that the other agent spent checking that Ian was okay to make his escape. >

Despite his body armour, the point-blank range of the bullet had left him with a couple of cracked ribs, and some serious bruising. Definitely not his worst injuries, but enough to put him behind a desk for the next couple of weeks. That did at least mean that he would be at home for Alex’s birthday for once. He wondered whether Yassen had done that on purpose; it would be the first time that Ian was home for Alex’s birthday in three years, and he had made a mental note to ask him the next time he saw him.

Ian certainly hadn’t expected to see Yassen so soon after their last meeting, and especially not at Alex’s karate class this morning. The assassin might have been disguised with a latex mask and facial padding, but Ian recognised him instantly as they walked in and he greeted them. Alex bowed in response before taking his place on his mat, while Ian joined the other parents at the other end of the hall. He knew all of them, both because he had been bringing Alex to the class frequently for the last three years and because MI6 had completed thorough background checks on everyone who attended the class.

“Good afternoon,” Yassen began once the whole class was assembled. “I am afraid that your usual sensei is unwell this week, so I am taking over the class. Hopefully he will be back on form ready for next week.” At least that assuaged Ian’s temporary fear that Alex’s usual teacher had been killed, but it didn’t explain why Yassen was there.

At the beginning of the class, he had asked for one of the adults to volunteer to help him demonstrate the new move that they would be learning today. No one had volunteered and he groaned internally when he heard Alex’s voice pipe up after a couple of seconds of silence.

“Ian knows karate.” Three simple words, but they had been enough for the other adults in the room to relinquish any obligation that they might have been feeling to volunteer themselves.

Any other day, he wouldn’t have minded sparring with Yassen - they were equally matched and he always enjoyed their fights - but today, with a bruised lung, cracked ribs and an excited audience of eight to ten year olds, he was less than thrilled at the prospect of being volunteered. He didn’t let his lack of enthusiasm show, however, and smiled jovially as he walked over to join Yassen on the mat. The class of blue belt students listened intently as Yassen explained the mechanics of the Kuzushi Waza that he was about to demonstrate. And inevitably, Ian was the person getting knocked to the ground while Yassen slowly and patiently showed the children each of the steps to executing the move properly; he really was a natural teacher, Ian mused.

After three demonstrations of the Kuzushi Waza, one of the older children - a ten year old called Sam - asked whether they could see the move in an actual fight. Yassen glanced at Ian who nodded.

“Alright, but you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a bit rusty. It’s been a long time since I last trained.” Only Yassen knew that even if he hadn’t trained properly recently, that didn’t mean that he hadn’t been using his skills, notably against him a couple of days before.

So that was how Ian ended up on his back, winded and with Yassen pinning him to the floor. He hadn’t been fighting to his best ability, partly because of his injuries, but also because he was not meant to be the expert in this situation. Yassen was teaching the class, even if it was just as a substitute, and it wouldn’t have looked good if he was beaten by a guardian who, as far as everyone else knew, was an amateur. But he didn’t let Yassen win too easily; Ian knew that he would never live it down if he didn’t put up a decent fight.

Back on his chair, Ian resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t find out why Yassen was there until the class ended at the earliest, and surreptitiously checked his ribs; thankfully, it didn’t seem like his injuries had been made any worse for his spar with Yassen. He watched with interest as the kids practiced the move, first against the air and then against each other in pairs. As there was an odd number of kids, Alex ended up being paired with Yassen <and Ian suspected that the assassin had arranged it on purpose to see how competent Alex was.

The last forty minutes of the class passed without incident. The kids had made remarkable progress with learning the Kuzushi Waza and most of them could land it successfully, knocking each other to the floor on at least one occasion during the class. Despite being one of the youngest and smallest in the class, Alex picked the move up incredibly quickly, and was able to floor his opponents nearly every time.

“Good job everyone. We’ll have to leave it there for today,” Yassen announced. After the class was dismissed, Alex ran over, brimming with pride at how well he had done. He jumped into Ian’s arms, winding him for the second time that afternoon.

“Did you have fun, bud?”

“Yeah!”

“You did so well!”

As they made their way to the car, Alex chatted excitedly about the class and Ian smiled. He might have signed Alex up so that he could learn how to defend himself, but at least he enjoyed the sessions too. Ian unlocked the car and paused before getting in.

“Oh, I’ve left my jacket inside. Get in, I’ll be back in a minute. And remember to-“

“Lock the doors,” Alex replied in unison as he climbed into the car. Ian waited until he heard the whir of the door locks before turning and waking back into the hall. Yassen was sat where he had been sitting, Ian’s new work phone in his hand.

“You’re taking a while to bug my new phone aren't you? Getting slow in your old age?” Ian asked.

“You knew?” Yassen asked nonchalantly, without looking up.

“What? That you’ve always had my phones bugged? Yeah I knew.”

Yassen shrugged and handed Ian his jacket and phone.

“Is that the reason you were here today?”

“No. Unfortunately Alex’s usual instructor has food poisoning,” Yassen said. “I merely offered to cover the class and it seemed as good an opportunity as any to tap into your phone.”

“You could have done it when we fought the other day,” Ian countered. “So why did you really give his instructor food poisoning?” Yassen didn’t try to deny Ian’s assertion.

“I wanted to see how Alex was getting on… and make sure that you were okay.”

“You could have just called around to the house.”

“Yes, but then I wouldn’t have been able to see his karate prowess.” Ian laughed, but regretted it instantly when his lung felt like it was on fire.

“I’d better go before he starts wondering where I am.” He started to walk towards the door when a thought struck him. “Did you purposefully put me out of the field so that I would be home for his birthday?”

“You’ve missed the last three, Ian. I thought you both needed it, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.”

“Thank you,” he said earnestly. “I mean it. And if you want to come over one evening in the next couple of weeks, you know I’ll be home, even if I get in from the office late.” He didn’t press Yassen for an answer, but made his way back out of the door, putting his jacket on as he walked to the car.

-----------------

Very ironically, for Alex’s ninth birthday, he wanted a spy themed party, inspired by the movie ‘Spy Kids’. Jack had taken him to see it while Ian was away on one of his previous missions, and Alex had absolutely loved it. Ian could understand why the film would appeal to an eight year old, even if the premise (he hadn’t actually seen it yet) was completely unrealistic.

Ian and Jack had been planning the party for a couple of weeks; they had sent out the invitations written in invisible ink, planned party games (including an obstacle course, laser beam maze, hunt the criminal and a clue hunt), and the party bags included a spy kit. He was both excited and apprehensive for the big day; Ian hadn’t been around for Alex’s birthday for three years, so was happy to finally be able to spend the day with him, but the spy in him never turned off. The prospect of having a group of strangers in his house made him uncomfortable. He had made a lot of enemies in his line of work and any one of them could use something as innocent as a children’s birthday party to get their revenge.

But his home was much more secure than it appeared. Ian and John’s grandfather - Kenneth Rider - had been in the Special Operations Executive (a secret gadget and weapons building division that Winston Churchill set up during World War Two), and had installed many different gadgets in the house. Kenneth had kept them updated as the years passed and technology improved, but inevitably some of them had become obsolete in the light of more modern technology. Others (such as the panic room with a landline phone and wired internet connection) were still remarkably useful, and Ian and John had worked together to make further improvements to the security of the house through the years.

Smithers had helped Ian to upgrade some of the security features too, away from the scrutinising gaze of MI6. After what had happened with John and Scorpia, Ian wanted to keep the knowledge between as few people as possible, so only he and Smithers knew about the non-standard defences in the house. The three of them had discovered that their grandfathers had worked building gadgets and devices together in the SOE, when they attended a reunion party with their grandfathers and bumped into each other. After that, they ended up spending time together outside of work and became good friends. Smithers was one of the very few people at MI6 that Ian trusted implicitly.

So the day of Alex’s ninth party arrived. There were hidden sensors at the front door which would detect both chemical and biological weapons, cold spots which could be concealing guns, knives and other weapons, and locator beacons even if they weren’t activated. There were hidden security cameras strategically placed to view the whole of the house and gardens that both Ian and MI6 could access. And as the party was spy themed, Ian could also get away with wearing an in-ear headset, which meant that Smithers, who was watching the cameras, could report anything unusual.

Much to Ian’s relief, the whole party went off without a hitch. Nobody suspicious arrived at the house and Alex had the time of his life playing at being a spy, as did his friends, and they thoroughly enjoyed the various games that Ian and Jack had set up. Now the three of them were curled up together on the sofa, watching Spy Kids at Alex’s request (Jack had bought it for his birthday), but Ian didn’t mind. It was good to be able to spend time together, even though the premise was completely unrealistic; children who have been training their whole lives without realising it being thrust into a world of spying when their parents are taken hostage. In his opinion, the fact that the safety of the world rested on their shoulders and that they were successful without any proper espionage training simply added to the improbability of the plot.

As the film ended and the credits started, Ian looked down at his nephew to see him fast asleep. Nine years old. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been a baby sleeping in Ian’s arms; Alex was growing up so fast and he knew that John and Helen would have been as proud of him as Ian was. Sometimes Ian wished that he could freeze time, and this was definitely one of those moments. Having fun and spending time together as a family wasn’t something that happened often now that he was back in the field, but he savoured every moment like this when it came along. It was just a pity that they seemed to occur less frequently now that Alex was growing up and Ian was spending more working.

#alex rider #ian rider #yassen gregorovich #alex rider series #alex rider fanfiction #alex rider fanfic #Jemima's fic #Jemima posts

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