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Jelly Babies have been spotted at UCSB.

For eight years, my friends, co-workers, and professors at Rice have seen me consume kilos of Jelly Babies. Yes, Diane, my teeth are fine. Now that I've relocated to Santa Barbara, Jelly Babies have begun to make an appearance at the UCSB campus. Now it's time to enlighten my friends on the classic British sweets.

What are Jelly Babies?

So the popular question is 'what are they?' This is a totally reasonable question considering that Jelly Babies are not sold in local grocers in the United States. (How unfortunate.) Well, Jelly Babies are a popular brand of British sweets. They date back to the end of the World War I and were originally called Peace Babies. Each gelatine piece is in the shape of a baby and is coated with a thick layer of soft sugar and sprinkled with icing sugar to keep them from sticking to each other. <OPINION> They are really good, delicious, and mouth watering.</OPINION> The amount of sugar found in Jelly Babies is probably a better stimulant than caffeine. When taken in combination with tea or caffeinated soda, one is able to churn out two exams and two 15 page term papers in 96 hours (studying and researching time included). Believe me. I did it during my senior year at Rice.

Okay, so it's not a healthy relationship. I'm quite sure the US Surgeon General would be terribly displeased with me. But I must say, I'd take Jelly Babies over any other sweets, with the exception of chocolates, any day.

What are the flavours?

Below is a little introduction to Jelly Babies. There are six Jelly Babies in the 'Jelly Babies Gang'. Each has a name and flavour.

	Brilliant. Raspberry. He is the leader of the Jelly Babies, which is quite odd. How many highly intelligent people do you know are the leader of an organisation? In the real world, he'd be a frustrated Jelly Baby in a low paying middle management position.
	Big Heart. Black Currant. He is the nicest of all Jelly Babies. However, he does get very crossed when people confuse him for liquorice. The confusion has led him to become good friends with another Bassett's figure, Bertie. (Bertie is the mascot for Bassett's All Sorts Liquorice.) Although he is soft and purple, he has no affiliation with Tinky Winky of the Teletubbies.
	Bubbles. Lemon. She's a natural blonde. She usually wears her hair in pony tail and sports a necklace and sun glasses. <Insert your favourite blonde joke. I don't have one.> I just hope her name does not imply what really fills her soft jelly brain.
	Bumper. Orange. He's usually jolly. He's always seen sporting a bum-bag (American: fanny pack, tee hee). As his name implies, he is usually bumping and crashing into things. Due to his nasty flavour and carelessness, he is usually the least liked. Fact: When Andrew Lloyd Webber was a child, his nickname was Bumper. Just like Bumper, Andrew is not well liked by some due to his flavour and reckless behaviour.
	Boofuls. Lime. This one's got problems. He is usually seen crying. Apparently he has major issues that need to be sorted by a child psychologist before he becomes a disgruntled adult.
	Bonny. Strawberry. She's the youngest of the Jelly Babies. She wears a bonnet and nappy. On older boxes, she donned roller skates which is odd since she hasn't learn to walk yet.