Answer: Volcano Worship

Alfred Matthew Yankovic, better known to the world by his stage name “Weird Al” Yankovic, seems to have always had a bit of flair for fun, drama, and showmanship in him. Long before he was cranking out gold albums of his signature parody tunes and collecting Grammy awards, he was pulling off little pranks and stunts in his home town.

One of his more enduring stunts is immortalized in his high school yearbook: Yankovic and his buddies wanted to get an extra photo of themselves in the school yearbook, so they created an extracurricular club with the sole purpose of adding a page to the yearbook with their photo on it. The focus of the club? Volcano worship.

Laugh if you will, and we’re sure Weird Al and friends did when they squeezed in the extra photo in the yearbook with their stunt, but their home town of Lynwood, California isn’t exactly a world away from volcanic activity. The state of California is home to two dozen volcanic areas, including the Mount Shasta Volcano which has a very high threat rating from the United States Geologic Survey.

Perhaps Californians should be thankful, in light of the little volcanic activity in the intervening years, that Weird Al’s efforts helped keep the volcano gods happy.