H2o

Boston Chicken Inc. Chairman Scott A. Beck represents the second generation of an entrepreneurial group that has built and run some of the most successful companies of the past 25 years. Most of their roots are in WMX Technologies Inc., formerly Waste Management Inc., a trash-hauling firm based in the Chicago area whose founders included Beck's father, Lawrence.

Many children think of bath time as a necessary evil, sort of like picking at dinner before devouring dessert. But trade that boring washcloth and bar of soap for a fanciful sponge and watermelon-scented bath gel, and it's as if play time had never ended. - H2O Plus makes botanical products that spell good clean fun for kids: shower and bath gels redolent of grapes and cherries, a shampoo and conditioner with the tang of green apples and a moisturizer that could pass for banana puree.

Most of us take water for granted. But the 250 or so California companies that manufacture and supply water purification systems hold H2O in such regard that they meet once a year to discuss its fine points. Their annual trade show took place last weekend at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel, where more than 1,000 people in the water business congregated. The event was sponsored by the Pacific Water Quality Assn., based in Huntington Beach, which represents the state's water purification companies.

* Tickets go on sale Friday for a series of shows at the Sun Theatre: Eric Johnson and the Derek Trucks Band Jan. 24, Blue Oyster Cult Feb. 4, Willie Nelson on Feb. 27 and B.B. King, right, on March 2. . . . Face to Face will be joined by H2 O, Snapcase and No Motiv at the Hollywood Palladium on March 2. Tickets are on sale now. . . . Tickets are available now for shows by Mickey Champion Jan. 4 and Royal Fingerbowl Jan. 10, both at the Knitting Factory Hollywood. . . .

If a man changes from Speedos to tuxedos, is he a Renaissance man or an extremist? Maybe he's just a well-turned water polo player. Members of USC men's water polo team modeled menswear at a fashion show last week at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine to benefit the Sophisticates' Assessment and Treatment Services Center in Santa Ana. Tuxedos for the H2O hunks were provided by Gingiss Formalwear. Other clothes--from casual Reyn Spooner island shirts to Hugo Boss suits--came from Garys & Co.

With the opening of so many tattoo-removal parlors around town, you'd think the epidermal art fad was on the decline. Not with celebrities: Heather Locklear, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were among those freshly inked this summer. Jolie is known to have at least a dozen tattoos, including the latitude and longitude coordinates of the countries where her adopted children were born.

Obviously the owners of the Angels and Dodgers have never heard of team chemistry. Arte Moreno and the Guggenheim Guy thought they could build better teams just by adding more expensive elements. Here's a lesson from Chemistry 101: You won't improve water (H2O) by replacing the O (oxygen) with Au (gold). H2Au won't work: Just ask Torii Hunter, the professor of Team Chemistry 101. Steve Stanage Corona :: I hope Angels management, and fans, can look between the lines of T.J. Simers' smarmy Josh Hamilton piece and realize that what they have in Hamilton is nothing compared to what they had in Torii Hunter.