The giant bird flew us to Vesuvios, where we waited for the reading to begin. Nicole Blackman was sitting there, looking very ill. It wasn't just makeup. She had food poisoning. Anyway, we sat upstairs close to the poets. The opening act, as it were, was J. Tarin Towers, who was actually quite good. Go see her when you can. You might see her in a setting like this, but hopefully not from this angle.