Dublin
(27th January 2007)

After numerous false dawns where the prospect of CASA being re-launched was proposed, the scooby gang finally got the show back on the road with a massive CASA trip on the cards. Plenty of planning went into the trip, much more than usual. Potential stone collecting sites were searched for on the internet, and after many hours of work and many e-mails, the plan for CASA trip #9 were finalised and we were ready to go.

The plan was to carry out 6 stone collecting missions in the space of 2 days. I hear you think that 6 counties in 2 days is mad, ridiculous and just too hard. But we are the members of CASA. A group so fearless that Saddam was heard to say he was glad we didn't invade Iraq. We were determined to succeed and if everything we planned fell into place, then come the Sunday evening we'd be 6 stones heavier - each.

The weekend started with Mr Pearson making the trip from our old CASA base in Limerick to the potentially new base in Athlone. When he arrived, I was sound asleep due to a beer session the night previous. I wasn't long getting up to greet the new arrival and while he parked his car (and have a little tip with another car) I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and prepared for the evening ahead.

After buying some petrol for the car, we headed for Athlone town centre for food. We ended up in The Prince hotel and some nice grub was devoured. After that, it was back to the house for the Mario Kart tournament that would decide who would sit beside me on the stone trip. The usual draw was made and Dave ran away with the warm up, but the tournament itself proved his undoing and he was completely battered by a rampant Pearson. The result, Dave in the back seat where he belongs.

Saturday morning came and after a quick breakfast of toast (which was next to impossible to eat) we headed for Naas, backed by the sound of Ram Jam and Black Betty. This would be Dave's last act of DJ for the morning as Pearson supplied a mix of music on a cd. And as luck would have it, the cd finished just as we arrived in JP's house and another cup of tea ensued. We weresoon on our way out of Naas with everything we needed for the weekend trip. We had a pit-stop in Tesco for fags and cameras.

Once out on the open road, JP took over DJ duties and Mr Pearson was on map reading duties. And what a job he did. We arrived at the zoo in good time, and after bailing out of the car our first pictures were taken and then we headed to hand over €14 so we could see animals from all over the world. This fee is not worth it. I'll reserve judgement till I see the place at the height of the summer, but for January, €14 is a complete raping. Firstly, there was very few animals in the place, and the ones that were there would only add fuel to the fire of animal rights activists who say animals aren't happy locked up. I say this, because every animal in the place seemed sad, depressed and did not want to entertain the public. The penguins of course were the exception. These little non-flying birds were a sheer bag of fun, especially the 2 who did a dance in front of us. I wanted to hop in to get our stone from there, but the crowds watching the penguins meant this idea wasn't feasible.

After a couple of hours wandering around, and not being very impressed, we stopped for some grub in the form of pizza. Dave opted for some other stuff that I don'tremember. I think it was wedges and penis or something. Once fed, we headed off to the bird and little monkey section. These fellas were cool and I'd like too think they'd be good fun to own and have them play around the house. As we walked through the bird's home, we decided to get a stone from one of their cages. We decided on collecting here as there was a bird in the cage who we proclaimed to be the Stone-Master. All members succeeded in the task. It took Dave two go's as he doesn't know the difference between a stone and a piece of shit. Each member then had their photo taken with their stone and with the Stone-Master. You'll notice from the picture that the bird is hard to see, but believe me he is there.

All in all, the zoo was a massive disappointment. I appreciate the fact that we were there on a Saturday morning in January. But still, ya'd think there's be more to see in the place. I seen no elephants (even circus's have elephants), or no snakes. There's bound to be much more animals I didn't see but I don't feel like I missed anything of importance. The meerkats and penguins were by far the coolest, but 2 animals don't make a zoo.

At this stage, the day was pushing on towards afternoon which meant it was time to leave Dublin and get the CASA show back on track to fulfill our plan of 6 counties in 2 days. We started our stroll back to the car and it was discussed if we should vissit the Phoenix Park monument before we left. Time said we couldn't so off we headed to the car for the next leg of our trip. Wicklow the destination and CASA moved on.

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