Bash Compactor: Summer Camp, Girl Style Now

Just because there’s a recession on, doesn’t mean you can’t help send girls to rock camp. Wednesday night brought out donors large and small for a fundraiser at the Zipper Factory benefiting the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls’ scholarship program. Hosted by notorious drag king Murray Hill, the night, which grossed $10,000, featured musical performances by Jennifer O’Connor, Erin McKeown and Me’shell Ndegeocello, as well as an auction featuring such tempting items as a guitar signed and decorated by Kimya Dawson, a rock star makeover and a set of commemorative Joan Jett spoons (seriously). Donations came from the likes of Kathleen Hanna and filmmaker Charlie Ahearn, with free beer courtesy of Magic Hat.

Ahearn himself was on hand to watch the auctioning off of a 25th Anniversary Edition Wild Style DVD and book, both signed by Fab 5 Freddy, as well as a print of a photo Ahearn took on the set of Blondie’s “Rapture” video, in which Debbie Harry rapped the rap that launched a thousand MCs. Did he have any crazy stories from back in the day? “Woodstock was the greatest wet T-shirt contest in history,” he replied. “It was raining all weekend and the girls weren’t wearing any bras. Then it got hot, and they all took their shirts off. I was 18, so I thought that was okay!”

Besides Ahearn, it seemed almost everyone there was a lesbian, with many adorable couples in the mix. Murray Hill made many jokes to that effect, albeit toned down because there were children present. “I look like your gym teacher at school, huh?” he asked a small boy engrossed in his handheld game system.

“They’re not filming are they?” he quipped. “My wife thinks I’m at AA tonight.” When I took his picture, he called me out and demanded I take one from his good side. “I don’t want a double chin.”

I asked volunteer Caryn Brooks if she had any dirt on who was hooking up with whom. “Not yet,” she said, then steered me over to talk to camp president Hanna Fox to talk about what the night was really about.