if only we had carpool lanes in michigan

I would like to introduce you to a fellow I work with. His name is Curly. Curly doesn't say much, but he's a darn good listener. In fact, that is his sole purpose; Curly is an acoustic head. What in blazes is that, you ask? Well, you can see a picture of it here. Basically, it is the upper torso of a mannequin with microphones in the ears. We use Curly to record sounds the way a human would hear them: in binaural stereo, with anatomically correct silicone ears and all.

Now, Curly and I have been working together quite a bit lately, and we have gotten close--maybe too close. See, what I usually do is drop him in the passenger's seat of a car I'm testing, then drive around and record whatever it is I need to record, say driving down the freeway at 90 mph, or the sound of a semi blasting by you. Curly is quite good at his job, however he tends to be a bit tipsy, which means if I go around corners too fast I end up with his head on my shoulder or in my lap. Sorry, buddy, but I want to maintain a professional working relationship. So I've solved the problem by putting my arm around him while going around corners. Only today did I realize how funny that probably looks to anyone who might happen to witness it. "Poor guy--the only one who loves him is that plastic dummy. God bless that dummy."