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Michele
Rundgren's Fans Start Talking
June 22, 2005
Michele,
I started crying before I even finished September's Miary entry. I knew what you were going to say before I read it. I think I'm scared of how I will survive emotionally when my kids grow up and leave some day. Mine are 7, 10, and 12, and my sweet husband is 46.
I was an only child with a quiet family. I really felt lonely out in the woods with no neighbors or siblings. Every year when I blew out my birthday candles I wished for a brother or sister. When I was pregnant with son #1 I felt like I was being reunited with someone I had spent a lifetime missing. Anyway, I grew up in peace and quiet and craved the circus 3 wild little kids create. I cherish it every day.
I homeschool and have never really spent any time away from them until this summer when I decided to support my father by spending much of the summer with him while his wife was dying with cancer in a residential hospice. I had been taking all my kids, but wrecked my car on a return trip and ended up only getting to take my daughter with me on the 4th trip. It was one of those life-changing events and I ended up pretty sick for the past several months. My hunch is that I got so emotionally stretched that it took a physical toll on me too. Anyway, I have never felt better than when I got home to a dirty house, demanding kids, and a hectic schedule. I'm not completely well yet, but I can't think of better medicine than the chaos of my family.
I guess what I was intending to say, is: "I get what you are saying, and that often happens when I read your entries. Thanks for sharing with all of us."
-Chante'
(mom of Hadiyah, Yali Zada, and Ahni)
June 22, 2005
Happy Anniversary!! What a beautiful entry today. You are so insightful and
believe it or not I learn a lot from your entries. You are very
inspirational. You have a wonderful life and really appreciate every minute
of it and that in turn always makes me appreciate my life even more after
reading your entries. Thank you for sharing so much with us.
Mahalo,
Karen
October 30, 2004
Hey Michele!
My name is Helena and I'm from
the little ol' island called England! I'm a fan of your
husband and someone directed me to your website like months
ago and I loved it. Your diary entry's leave me in stitches
and they sort of inspire me as well! I like your spirit
and your views on the whole woman thing, without getting
all feminist and stuff! We need way more people like you!
I ain't of the age yet where I should be worrying about
a husband or kids or housework, but your a definite underrated
role model (and I promised myself I wouldn't get serious
*deep breath*)! But it's true, more women (especially
the crazy feminists) should take your attitude to things!
I mean I know a lot of what you say should be taken with
a pinch of salt (maybe a little more than a pinch lol)
but it's still inspirational stuff! Ever thought about
writing a book! Lol!!
In your last post you suggested that
mothers and wives should get in touch with you.....well.....I'm
not a mother and I'm certainly not a wife...so I'm not
too sure why I'm emailing you to be honest (ha) but I
just went with the moment and the moment took me here!
Yeah so anyway, I just wanted to let you know that not
only do you have the respect of mothers and housewives,
but also teen girls who are into Todd/Kas/Utopia.......or
is that just me?!.....yeah I suppose that's just me. But
that's another "Young woman" (not child!! ha)
on your side!
But like I said, I have no clue why
I have emailed you, and I wouldn't expect you to take
your valuable housework time to email me (my mum uses
the housework excuse to do anything with me, so I understand)
Ha!!! I hope you guys have a great time in Japan and I
hope that the earthquakes over there didn't effect you
all! Take care!!
Much love Helena!!
DOUG KENNEDY
MICHELE RUNDGRENComedian/Singer/Goddess 4/28/04:
I first became aware of Michele
Rundgren when she was known as Michele Gray and was singing
and dancing with The Tubes on MTV. I remember staying
up late one night to tape a live Tubes concert on our
Betamax machine (remember Betamax?!). It was the Outside/Inside
Tour and Michele was singing Curtis Mayfield's "The
Monkey Time". I was an immediate fan....
A year or so later (1985) I saw my
first (and only) Utopia concert at The Capital Theatre
in Passaic, NJ. It was Utopia's POV Tour and they were
co-headling with none other than The Tubes. Love Bomb
was the album they were promoting and there was Michele
Gray dancing and singing right before my eyes. She was
great....
The next year I was a freshman in college when I caught
Todd Rundgren's A Cappella Tour at The Metron in Harrisburg,
PA (my friend and Todd's fan club girl Mary France had
to sneak me in as I wasn't 21. Thanks Mary!). Todd had
an "eleven-voice orchestra" with him and guess
who was one of the voices? Michele Gray! I was right at
the front of the stage and, like every other Todd fan,
I fell in love with Michele that night. Her beautiful
voice and warm smile were simply unforgettable....
I've since seen Michele on Todd's Nearly Human, 2nd Wind,
and No World Order tours. The No World Order gig saw Michele
cutting a rug as one of the baddest-ass hip-hop dancers
I've ever seen. It was then that I truly realized that
this gal was a muti-talented entertainment machine....
Fast foward to today, Michele Gray is now Michele Rundgren
(Todd's wife), and Michele Rundgren is embarking on her
first tour as a stand-up comic.
(Drum roll please)......
I'm thrilled to announce that I (along with my talented
pal Beatle Joe) will be warming up the crowd with a brief
acoustic set when Michele's "NC-17 From A 34-C"
comedy tour swings through Philadelphia on Monday, May
17th at The Point in Bryn Mawr (see my EVENTS SECTION
for details).....
Michele has a cool website (www.michelerundgren.com) where
you can get a taste of her bawdy brand of humor. I encourage
everyone to stop in and surf around. It's a lot of fun....
------------------------------------------------------------
Michele Rundgren @ Maxwell's 5/3/04
Caught Michele Rundgren's one-woman comedy show this past
Sunday night at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. I laughed, I
cried, I had salmon for dinner. Let me start from the
begining....
After a delicious lunch cooked by my mom, I decided to
snap into action: I took a nap. After waking up, I made
the twenty minute drive to beautiful and historic Hoboken,
NJ (located just across the Hudson River from New York
City). The rain we had earlier that day cleared out just
in time for me to meet up with my friends Kathy and Kira
and catch a pre-show dinner. It was at this dinner that
I was dubbed Doug "I'll Have The Salmon" Kennedy.
After some great chow and some fine wine, we strolled
up the street to Maxwell's just in time to mingle with
the intimate crowd of Michele fans. I was pleased to meet
Ed, Michele's hard-working road manager/soundman. Seeing
that Ed and my friends looked thirsty, I went into the
bar to get us all a round of drinks for the show. As I
made my way back towards the show room with the handful
of drinks, a beautiful blonde opened the door for me.
"Thanks Michele" I said. "MICHELE!!"
(I almost dropped the drinks)..
I took my seat and the show began. Now I won't give away
any of the details (as I'm sure Michele wants to keep
the surprises..well, surprises!). I will say that the
show is VERY funny, and Michele is the consumate performer.
For roughly 90 minutes, she kept us all laughing, clapping,
and smiling from ear to ear. Great show.
After the set, Michele graciously suggested we all go
next door for a drink. We sat around a big table sharing
a few laughs, a few beers, and a few munchies! Michele
was even more charming, warm, funny, and beautiful than
she has always appeared to be. What a great person.
After we bought some cool Michele T-shirts from Ed, it
was time to say goodbye. I drove back to my South Jersey
crib with a big smile and a great anticipation for Michele's
Philly show on the 17th.
Run, don't walk, and catch Michele Rundgren's "NC-17
From A 34-C" when she hits your area! It's a laugh....(see
my link section for Michele's cool website)
---------------------------------------------------------------
MICHELE RUNDGREN @ The Point 5/17/04
Monday evening it was my pleasure to open for Michele
Rundgren's back to back comedy shows at The Point in Bryn
Mawr, PA. Let me start from the begining.....
I was born in 1967 in Ridgewood, NJ and - wait, that's
too far back.
My original concept for these shows was to challenge myself
by performing some of my solo guitar instrumentals. That
thought lasted about ten minutes before I said "Hey,
my pal Joe Discher and I have been performing a handfull
of Todd Rundgren/Utopia songs at Joe's solo gigs for years.
Wouldn't it be great if the two of us paid a little homage
to Michele's hubby before she takes the stage?".
Joe (aka Beatle Joe ((he loves The Beatles)) ) was all
for it, and so was Michele. So that's what we did.....
Still, not wanting to back out of my personal challenge
of performing something of mine solo (I wanted to scare
myself), I compromised by opening the set by myself with
an original instrumental composed on my trusty 12-string
guitar. It seemed to go over well, and it was great fun
for me to have people react to something that I created
in my living room (not unlike a certain Dr. Frankenstien
once did) ......
As for our Todd set, we kicked things off with "It
Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference", followed by "There
Goes My Inspiration", "Lysistrata", "Libertine",
and "Love Of The Common Man".....
Beatle Joe did a fantastic job. He played guitar on "Lysistrata"
"Libertine" and "..Common Man", and
sang his ass off on everything.
The crowd (made up mostly of Todd fans), seemed to enjoy
our brief opening sets. It was nice to chat to people
afterward and get a bit of feedback. One lovely woman
complimented me on my original guitar piece and asked
me if I had ever considered getting into film scoring.
I should have married her right then and there......
Michele was a gracious and wonderful host to us. When
The Point tried to snuff out our opening for the second
show (due to a 10:30 curfew), Michele and Kathy (my friend
and Michele's booking agent) made a point of re-arranging
things so we could do our set. It was simple really, we
just played while people were getting seated rather than
waiting for 9:30. It all worked out just fine......
In attendance for the second show were non-other than
Todd Rundgren's mother Ruth, his brother Robin, and his
sister in-law (who's name I didn't catch). Pretty amusing
to watch Ma R react to the bawdy humor!
Both shows were well attended, which made this a nice
way for Michele to finish her "NC-17 From A 34-C"
Tour ......
Earlier in the evening, before the first show started,
an attractive woman walked up to me and asked if I was
Doug Kennedy. "Yes" I said. With that, she took
a cold bottle of Sam Adams beer out of her purse and said
"This beer is from your old pal Lou in Ohio".
She then opened it for me and wished me luck for my set.
Leave it to Lou to enlist the aid of a beautiful woman
to do his malt-beverage bidding! Thanks to Lou and his
friend (her name escapes me). That made my night.......
A shout out to Ed O'Brien for a terrific job running sound
and to Kathy Wagner for making everything happen....
Of course, thanks to Michele Rundgren for being so sweet
and kind to me. Michele is a gutsy gal who, after years
of lovingly raising her children out of the limelight,
decided to just get back out there and do it. Michele,
you did it, and we all love you for it. Aloha...
July 31, 2004
Laura,
thank you so much for inviting me to Michele's show. It
was the funniest thing I've ever seen. I was laughing
so hard I was scared I would get hysterical. As she went
along it got funnier and funnier and funnier. Michele
is so talented, I was amazed. She is so good looking and
in such great shape, the stamina! and she's so damn good
at it. Drop dead funny. She's a helluva comidienne with
a perfect skit. That hair on the twat bit was just too
funny for words. I've been seeing comedians since the
60's, I've seen Milton Berle in Vegas and many many others
and Michele is by far the most hilarious of all. I got
the biggest bang out of it, I would go see the show again
anytime. Thank you for a great night.
Rosemary Glaser, 86 years
young, (The WebMastah's Grandma)
July
28, 2004
Dear Michele,
I watched your DVD tonight.
You really do have a natural gift for comedy -- especially
the visual elements, which were probably what I laughed
the loudest at. Your friends were wise to encourage you.
The local references really
went over like gangbusters with the Hawaii crowd, didn't
they? The rest of us are left scratching our heads. Still,
I look forward to future performances. My friend Doug
Kennedy, who mind-melded with you during your tour, swears
you're even funnier in person, and no less ribald. Anyway.
Best of luck to you. You are obviously married to a true
genius, but he is married to a beautiful one.
Brett
Bayne @ Larry Flynt Publications
Shank Hall, 4-22-4
Well, what
can I say after seeing Michele last night for her first
show???? My voice was gone and my face was stiff from
smiling and laughing soooooo much!!!!
I don't want to give away
her act, but I will tell you that it is very ADULT oriented
and not for the straight-laced types???? I LOVED IT!!!
so what does that say about me??? LOL
She's beautiful and has
some of the best visuals (her eyes, facial and more)!!!
It was a full 90 minutes (I think) and it included audience
participation and a change in outfits and many props!!!!
The audience loved her from the
beginning and we were roaring for the rest of the night.
I could hardly talk when I met her afterwards but she
gave me the biggest hug (ahhhhhh-thanks I needed that)!!!
So, my advice to you are:
GO SEE HER IF SHE'S ANYWHERE IN YOU REA!!! SHE IS SO WORTH
IT!!!! I like her A LOT!!!
Can't wait to see what
I missed from laughing so hard at the hicago show Saturday
night (Beat Kitchen, 6 p.m.).
Rita Kopca
Dear Michele:
Met you at Shank Hall last
night with my friend Rita. I can't remember the last time
I laughed that much! Your show was a lot of fun and I
wish you the best of luck on your tour! If your Pittsburgh
show on April 29th was a Friday, I would fly right out
there so I could share you with my girlfriends out there
(well, not LITERALLY!! haahhaa!! You know what I mean!!)
Maybe another city! (Ah! The
perks of having a sister who works for an airline!)
As a woman musician who also
lived through the 80's, I thank you for the hot tip that
the "correct" number is between 3 and 9 and
not something like 347! You just spared me a lot of embarrassment
at our next tell all "chick party!" hehehehe!
(Incidentally, I do promise you that I will NEVER to spill
any of your punchlines!!)
Anyway, best of everything
to you, Todd and your family! Thanks so much for
coming to Milwaukee!
Tina,
"The Junkyard Dog"
Beat Kitchen, 4-24-4
Dear Michele:
Here it is, Monday, and I am STILL laughing thinking of
your show at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago on Saturday!
The fact that I saw you in Milwaukee took nothing away
from the Chicago show--in fact, it was even funnier!!
You were such a hoot (once again)!! When I saw my conservative,
usually pretty serious boyfriend Ron laughing, I knew
you were a hit, and it wasn't just my own naughty sense
of humor!
I'm telling everyone that they need to see your show--what
a party! I've got your Janice Ian song stuck in my head
too--so I'm at work now, smirking and smiling to myself
like a crazy woman (which is kinda normal for me!) Anyway,
thanks for taking the time to chat and take pictures with
us.
Best of everything to you on the tour! Hope to see you
again real soon!
Tina "The Junkyard Dog"
Michele,
I saw your show last nite
and just wanted to let you know you were hysterical. Even
if you took away the Todd & Tubes factors you were
a scream, just as a women, wife, and mother. The humor
of the common threads you touched on regarding raising
kids, husbands, kids getting older, and having sex were
great. I also appreciated your humor & vulnerablity
when talking about groupies, for reasons I'm sure you
can imagine, way to go. I also went thru the MILF thing,
the bath tub thing with the kids, the husband with a trail
from the computer to the fridge, and I have a female tweenie
black & tan dachshund. The similiarities kind of freaked
me out, but thats what made it so funny. Isn't it also
funny how the guys in the band use to turn us on and now
when we see a new group we just think OH he/she would
be perfect for my kid. Thank you for talking with us after
the show it really made the nite much more fun. You were
very down to earth and approachable. If you were staying
in one place a little longer I think word of mouth would
pack the room in just a few weeks. I know I would come
again and bring my girl friends. Good luck with the rest
of your tour. If you remember, I'm the lady whose daughter
had twins on Saint Patrick's day, & who you talked
to at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago. A very young Grandma
29,...35...OK 40!!!
Thanks for a fun nite.
KIMBERLY R. WILSON NEMET
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