The Year in Stupid: Atlanta

Things to Do

The Year in Stupid: Atlanta

Atlanta Holiday Guide --Photos of Atlantans that made our list of stupid things from 2008.

Stupid knows no boundaries. It's in Washington and overseas, in the air and in the water supply. And it's also plentiful around Atlanta, in sufficient quantities that we can devote an entire edition to The Year in Stupid: Only in Atlanta.

Two Atlanta men -- one a Clayton County police officer -- announce they have found the body of Bigfoot in the North Georgia mountains. They get paid by a California company for the rights to their story.

In the end, Bigfoot turns out to be an empty monkey suit kept in a freezer.

At a college debate tournament held at Emory, two team coaches --"these are the professors"-- get into a screaming match filled with obscenities and one drops his pants at the other. The whole thing is caught on video and posted on Youtube.

Here's Ted! In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS, Ted Turner shows he hasn't lost his way with words. Discussing global warming, Turner says, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 10, not 10 but 30 or 40 years, and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."

The Georgia House notices that Georgia will let its residents put a Florida Gator on their car tags, but Florida won't let its residents buy a Bulldog tag. Fortunately, all of Georgia's other problems, like SAT scores, have been solved, so the House votes 142-10 to stop allowing Gator tags unless Florida mends its evil ways.

Pure Atlanta nightclub promotes an appearance by Paris Hilton and sells reserved tables for $3,000. Hilton never shows. The stupid here is not for Hilton, and not for the nightclub. It's for the people who spent $3,000 for a table.

Clayton County school superintendent John Thompson orders more than 3,000 high school diplomas shredded, and the graduates are given empty folders instead at graduation. The diplomas, which had to be printed early, had been signed by his predecessor instead of Thompson.

"Extreme Home Makeover" studmuffin and former Atlantan Ty Pennington agrees to appear at the Decatur Book Festival. After the festival prints all its posters and booklets, Pennington cancels at the last minute to go play with Oprah. Simon & Schuster promises to cajole another big name to come to the fest. Never happens. But it's a good festival without Ty.

The Centers for Disease Control seals a containment door in its infectious disease lab after the ventilation system malfunctions. The door is taped with duct tape.

"Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks manages to stay out of the news entirely, except for a new musical by Red Clay Theater in Duluth. But the 60 people who show up on opening night (a scene from the production is seen here) find that Wilbanks is never even mentioned in the play about her and that it runs only 65 minutes. Best touch: TV reporters are played by children.

Cobb County Commissioner Annette Kesting allegedly hires a voodoo priestess to put a spell on a political rival, for him to "catch cancer" or "have a car accident." She then wrote $3,000 in bad checks to cover the spells, according to police reports. Kesting denies the charge.

Officials at Emory University's Oxford campus find a live zebra on the third floor of Seney Hall. The prank is apparently a reference back to the '60s, when someone put a cow in the same building.

Twice-divorced preacher Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III, fresh off pleading guilty to aggravated assault on his ex-wife, Prophetess Juanita Bynum, announces he will launch a new TV reality show, "The Holy Hook-Up: Who Will be the Next Mrs. Weeks?" "It is going to be a very tasteful, five-star presentation," Weeks says.

Atlanta comedian Ron White is sued by two former pilots who say he burst into the cockpit of his private plane, intoxicated, and threatened to fight them, nearly causing a crash. White denies the charge. Three months later he's arrested for possession of marijuana. He says it's for medical use. Quote: "I've never had more fun in my life than I'm having now."

Bravo launches "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," a reality series about five women who live in enormous mansions in the far north suburbs, spend vast sums on trifles, throw lavish parties and compete for biggest waste of carbon in a life form. Appalled by this train wreck, viewers watch in droves.

1/16

Stupid knows no boundaries. It's in Washington and overseas, in the air and in the water supply. And it's also plentiful around Atlanta, in sufficient quantities that we can devote an entire edition to The Year in Stupid: Only in Atlanta.

Today's Gallery Headlines

NBA first round playoff game 3 between New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks

PHOTOS: Hawks beat the Knicks in Game 3

US Wildfires

PHOTOS: Two Georgia wildfires destroy homes, ravage thousands of acres

University of Georgia vs Georgia Tech in an NCAA baseball game at Truist Park

PHOTOS: Georgia Tech beats Georgia in top-5 baseball matchup

Sweetwater 420 finds sweet (or sour?) spot at Shirley Clarke Franklin Park

PHOTOS: SweetWater 420 Festival finds sweet spot at Shirley Clarke Franklin Park

More Galleries

Joey Valence & Brae kicked off the early evening with a high energy set on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. (Ryan Fleisher for the AJC)

Photos: Lenny Kravitz, Deftones perform: 7 highlights from Shaky Knees Day 1

the weeknd

PHOTOS: The Weeknd electrifies the crowd at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium

PHOTOS: Beyonce fans saddle up for 4-day Atlanta Cowboy Carter Tour stop

PHOTOS: Beyoncé fans arrive for 4-night Atlanta Cowboy Carter Tour stop