Stella!

Clip description: "The finale to this year's Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival had people screaming in the streets, recreating the famous scene from A Streetcar Named Desire." Williams would have turned 100 this week.

Big Freedia - Y'all Get Back Now

Big Freedia is the most popular artist in the New Orleans-based dance craze called Sissy Bounce, which was explored last summer in a lengthy New York Times Magazine profile. "Bouncing" typically involves turning your back on your partner and shaking your ass as violently as possible. My back hurts just watching all the clips on YouTube.

Scenes From New Orleans Mardi Gras

[Photos by Keith Darcé]

New Orleans Pastor Grant Storms: I Was Totally Jerking Off In My Van

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said today that anti-gay New Orleans Pastor Grant Storms admitted to them that he was masturbating in his van by that playground. But Storms says he wasn't actually watching any children, therefore the obscenity charge shouldn't stick.

Reverend Grant Storms was booked on Friday after his arrest at Lafreniere Park. Witnesses told investigators they saw the man fondling himself in his van while watching children on the playground. JPSO authorities said Storms admitted to the offense. He denies the charge and says no children were around. He plans to hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon to address the situation. He says that video footage should clear his name. Storms apologized and asked that people respect the privacy of his family. Storms said one woman saw him with his hand in his underwear, but nothing more. Storms is well known in the New Orleans area for orchestrating protests of the Southern Decadence Festival.

Southern Decadence organizer Chuck Robinson: "He's done everything through the years to disturb [the festival] and try to make it into something nasty that it's not. If the Rev. Storms is caught doing that in our city, it is ludicrous and heinous that he would have the nerve to complain about any kind of sexuality."

UPDATE: At his press conference today, Storms said that police reports of his confession are a lie. But wait, there's more.

He did, however, admit that he was looking at pornography on-line about an hour before he went to the park. He added that he struggles with an addiction to porn, and he asked pastors to help deal with his demons. Storms told members of the media he is no longer connected with the church that once staged the protests against Southern Decadence, now running a lawn care business. Weeping, he then went on to apologize to family and friends. He even apologized to those that he once railed against, including members of the gay community and organizers of Decadence Festival. Storms said he was taken aback by news that he had confessed to authorities that he had masturbated and exposed himself to children in the park, calling the allegation a "lie." "At no time did any children see me," said Storms. "I'm not a pedophile, I'm not a child molester."

NEW ORLEANS: Anti-Gay Pastor Grant Storms Busted As Pedophile Pervert

New Orleans' infamous Pastor Grant Storms, who every year can be found shouting hellfire and brimstone at Southern Decadence attendees, has been arrested for masturbating in his van while watching children in a playground.

Storms told deputies that he was merely having lunch at Lafreniere Park, 3000 Downs Blvd., in his van when he decided to relieve himself using a bottle instead of using the restroom, an incident report said. But two witnesses said they saw Storms through the open windows of his van masturbating himself while watching children on the playground, the report said. The two women flagged down a park employee who notified the Sheriff's Office. The employee also detained Storms until deputies arrived. Bond for Storms was set at $5,000. But he was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Sunday because of overcrowding at the jail. Armed with bullhorns, Bibles and picket signs, Storms and a group of followers in 2003 protested against Southern Decadence, the gay three-day festival held over Labor Day weekend in the French Quarter. Storms' efforts prompted the New Orleans City Council to ban megaphones and other amplification devices.

Storms has actually held anti-gay "purity" parades through the French Quarter during Southern Decadence. But not, we're guessing, this year!