Ken Rattenne |
My FamilyI'm your host to these pages. I currently live alone with my my cat Missy, which makes up the bulk of my "immediate family." I also have a biological family and an even larger "extended" family. For purposes of this page I'll focus on the first two.I live in Modesto, Calif.. in the heart of the Golden State's fertile Central Valley. My mortgage company and I own a little corner of Modesto. I count as my "immediate" family:
What I Like!In a 100 words or less (per bullet):
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Ken iat the Eberle Winery on California's Central Coast in 2008. I grew up in what is now called Silicon Valley and spent much of my working life in IT. San Jose is also home to the Tech Museum so it's only appropriate I show my 3-D profile which I created at the museum in June of 2000. My head was scanned in a 3-D scanner. Then I went a terminal to apply special effects (FX) to my portrait. I chose Chrome Dome. |
My "Musical" PeriodDuring my late 'teens and twenties my sole means of support was as a musician...a bass player...earning a tenuous living at best for almost 10 years.Yes it's true, before I became a writer, photographer and world-wide computer nerd...I was cool.Like so many other baby boomers looking for fame and fortune, I played serious rock 'n roll with the goal of being signed by a record company to be rich and famous and have lots of women. The moment I cast off the shackles of high school, I began playing electric bass. The late 1960s and early '70s were heady times and by 1980 I had played in more bands than I cared to think about. To my credit, though in 1975 I had seen the writing on the wall and embraced computer technology by becoming a COBOL programmer. . But let's back up! In 1969 I began in ernest my pursuit of fame, fortune and groupies. I was sure performing would lead to a record contract, lots of money more women than I could handle. And you know, over the 10-plus years I played music I experienced just about everything a struggling musician can experience, except fame, fortune and a record contract. I was on grueling road tours, exposed to surly club owners, played late night studio sessions and even later-night club and concert dates. But I also had some great times too: Nice hotels, cool clubs (including the Denver Playboy Club) good food and some wild wom...well, some things should be left unsaid. In the end, though, I came closest to winning that elusive stardom in a group called China Cat. That final group was also the my all-time favorite because I got to perform with great musicians and great friends! And we had complete control over our creative destiny. In the end though, our dream was never realized. If you would like to see just how close me and my bandmates did get to fame and fortune, then check out the China Cat page by clicking on the China Cat button above In spite of all the strangeness, the bruised egos and broken hearts, I wouldn't trade those years for anything! Learn more about my favorite band. |
You can reach Ken via email at krattenne@sbcglobal.net.
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