Khandu....

It's a Brit thing. At Christmas dinner they put a "cracker" at each place. They're tubes of colorful paper, twisted about an inch or so from each end. The object is to grasp one end, have someone else grasp the other, and pull. When the tube comes apart, a cap-like bang happens. Then you have to dig some little thing (a toy comparable to the ones we used to get in CrackerJacks), a paper crown and sometimes a little slip of paper with some unbelievably dumb joke on it. You groan at the joke, bargain over who will keep which toy and wear the crown (always WAY too large) until it falls over your eyes once too often or drops in your plate. Then you take it off and enjoy the rest of the meal....

cheers,

david