‘Radio Active’ Name Became Quite the Hot Topic Among Readers

The item here about the scary-sounding Radio Active Auto Body and Paint Shop did not go undetected by readers. Randy Semel tipped me that the name of the Van Nuys business derives from the fact that owner Bob Falini is a former disc jockey.

Falini confirmed it, saying, “When I was getting ready to open, people kept kidding me about calling it ‘Radio Active’ so I thought, ‘Why not?’ ”

Falini is thinking about expanding into other areas too. “I’m into remodeling houses,” he said. “I would like to open Radio Active Property Development.”

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WHICH BRINGS UP THE SUBJECT OF DRINKING WATER: I mentioned the Arizona man who visited Long Beach in 1915 and wanted the city’s drinking water shipped to his desert home because he said it solved his wife’s stomach and bowel problems.

“For those of your readers who were around in the 1930s and earlier, it’s easy to understand why,” wrote Lou Davis.

“Long Beach’s water was the worst-tasting, worst-smelling water in Southern California. It was heavily loaded with sulfur, smelled like rotten eggs and tasted terrible. [The Arizona resident] probably thought that anything that tasted that bad had to have curative qualities.”

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24 HOURS NOT: “I’m happy to report that the only Y2K problem I experienced on New Year’s Day was trying to make sense of a Bally’s sign in Old Pasadena,” wrote William Freeman (see photo).

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BUT THANKS FOR THE WARNING: After studying a stereo speakers ad, Calvin Marchell of Aliso Viejo wondered whether anyone would want a product that merely has “optional” performance (see accompanying).

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.