Odds & Trends

EXPLOSIVE THRILL

Forget Pac-Man. The latest pastime is more explosive than any video game. For only $10, housewives, accountants or truck drivers at the Bullet Stop in suburban Atlanta rent automatic weapons like UZI submachine guns and blast away with live ammo ($10.75 to $12.75 per box of 50 shells) on twelve carefully supervised shooting lanes. The targets: old bowling pins and combat-training silhouettes. "We get a lot of Rambo types," says Owner Paul LaVista, 38. "But mostly attorneys, airline pilots and doctors. They're big-time spenders." LaVista, who is working on franchising his smashing idea, claims that the diversion becomes almost irresistible. "It's like eating potato chips," he says. "And if you have a date, it's better than oysters."

AUTO BUFFS

Cleaning the car used to be simple, just a glide through the local car wash for $5 or so. Now, thanks to upscale urges, the latest rage is a serious auto grooming from gas cap to hood ornament, which can cost as much as $160 and take half a day. The process, called detailing, has long been employed by used-car dealers to prepare old models for their lots, and is now offered by more than 4,000 shops across the nation, according to the California Carwash Association.

At Steve's Detailing shops in California, New Jersey and New York City, a squad of six cleans the trunk carpeting, degreases the engine, removes junior's chewing gum from the air-conditioner vents, and scours spilled coffee from dashboard crevices with toothbrushes. In Orange County, Calif., says Artificial- Flower Manufacturer Calvin George, who has his Porsche groomed every three months, "people would think you weren't doing well if you didn't get your car detailed." Imagine what they would think in Beverly Hills.

FIDO FARE

A growing number of dog owners, concerned about the additives in commercial preparations, are stocking up on organic foods for Fido. The holistic offerings at Lick Your Chops, a Westport, Conn., pet-food emporium, include oatmeal cookies and garlic-flavored biscuits. While most veterinarians see little advantage to such fare, adherents claim that the high ratio of vegetable ingredients produces healthier pets. The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog advocates feeding Rover what he would eat in the wild. Animal Herb Blend, a mixture of some 20 herbs, including fennel and raspberry leaves, simu- lates the ingredients found inside, say, a wild rabbit's stomach. The dogs seem to love it.