As delivered this morning at BBC Radio Bristol:
There is a wonderful feel-good factor about living around Bristol at the moment. Sorry Rovers fans, but you'll bounce back.
We are acquiring a reputation for creativity and fun. Food connections. Harbourside gatherings. Festivals of ideas. Grommet spotting. Banksy edginess. We mainly agree, with a few exceptions, that it is good to stop the traffic and have a massive water slide. There is a buzz about the place.
We were even trending on Twitter at the weekend. No mean feat. Bristol was one of the top ten things being talked about in the whole world. For a bit, anyway.
I think one of the keys to this has been its glorious unpredictability. I love it when people do innovative things. Come up with ideas to get people having fun. Or just have a moment or two being bonkers.
Jesus' disciples once came up to him to explain there was a queue of people in the village wanting to be healed. His reply gets little publicity. He said, 'Let's go somewhere else.' No-one expected that. And when a wedding party ran out of wine he didn't speak about the evils of alcohol - we're told he made a ridiculously excessive amount more. Top quality stuff at that. Christians as killjoys? You're having a laugh aren't you?
Some people follow leaders because of their shrewd strategies. Others choose excellent example-setters. But face it; we quite like following those whose next action is always a mystery to us. We have no idea what they will do and follow to find out.
So come on Brizzle, South Gloucester, Bath, North Somerset; what crazy thing shall we do next? All thoughts welcome. And talking of crazy things...
...hands back to Steve le Fevre, presenter.
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