Bill has sent in the the latest in his Audio Diary series (the tenth). This new edition, totaling 20:22 in length is a little shorter than some of the others he’s done, but this one has a lot of really good information in it. Here’s the bullet poiints…

* – Details about the special Christmas episode of his Rock 50 radio show

* – A few thoughts on the induction of Black Sabbath into the UK Hall of Fame

* – Jack Bruce & Cream

* – A huge update on the status of Bill’s long awaited third solo album, “Beyond Aston”. Bill uses the phrase “light at the end of the tunnel” in his update, so you definitely do not want to miss this.

Bill refers to a few things in this diary, and I wanted to make sure that everyone knew how to reach them.

1) You can download the song “The Dark Half Hour” from the sounds page here on this site. The Dark Half Hour is a song from Beyond Aston that Bill has made available as a free, legal download from his website.

2) Straws. While the free download of Straws was withdrawn awhile ago, you can still obtain it by donating to one of several charities that Bill has teamed up with. You can get more information on the Straws charities here.

3) Rock 50. Here is the page with further information about the Rock 50 show.

Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary110705.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Effective immediately, Bill has implemented special Summer pricing for Straws. The previous regular minimum of $35 has been lowered to $12.99 from June 1st through September 30th. If you can afford more than that, it would be appreciated, as the charities would benefit more, but if the $12.99 pricing can get you to donate when you couldn’t before, then by all means, do so.

Bill is doing this to commemorate the Summer Black Sabbath tour, so make sure and jump on this if you haven’t already got your copy of the Straws CD.

Click on the cover art to be taken to the Straws page, where you can get further details on how to donate, and information on the various charities that are benefiting by the Straws program.

For Immediate Release:

BILL WARD OF BLACK SABBATH TO ISSUE LIMITED EDITION “STRAWS” CD-SINGLE ON VETERANS DAY, NOVEMBER 11 AT WWW.BILLWARD.COM

ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT CHARITY

Bill Ward, drummer and founding member of Black Sabbath, has announced that 1,000 Limited Edition CD-singles of “Straws” the song he wrote and recorded to express his concerns regarding the war with Iraq and the escalation of terrorism, will be available exclusively on his web site, www.billward.com, beginning on Veterans Day, November 11, 2003.

Each “Straws” CD-single is numbered and autographed by Ward, and all proceeds
will be donated to the charity of each purchaser’s choice from the following
five organizations: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Alice Faith Mittelman Foundation, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, the National Veterans Foundation, and the Inner City Music Program (Bands not Gangs) Los Angeles.

A total of 2,200 copies of the Limited Edition “Straws” CD-singles were produced in all, with Ward servicing 1,200 copies to governmental heads of state throughout the world, humanitarian organizations, peace support groups, media outlets and fellow musicians. Among those who have received the special package are President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and members of the United States Congress. ###

On Thursday, November 14 Bill Ward did an interview with Vinny Marino (New York) for ABC Radio Networks. The focus of the interview was about Straws. During the interview Ward said that Straws was not an anti-war song, and added “sometimes war is inevitable.” He further went on to say, “Straws is a reaction song to the almost obsessive desire to bring war to Iraq.” He explained, “the song was borne primarily out of the fears a father might have” (Bill has two American sons who are both eligible for the draft if that comes about). Ward also spoke about the seemingly unpreparedness, at a local level, to have in place emergency directions if terrorist incidents were to happen at that level. Ward spoke out for the men and women in San Pedro and Long Beach who have been affected by, what Ward considers to be, lack of good judgment on the part of the United States government in which there seems to be only a modicum of support towards the workers who keep the ships moving in and out of LA Harbor. Ward expressed that these ships that are still on the water could potentially be accidents waiting to happen, and went on, “surely the terrorists can see this situation at Long Beach, also.” Ward questioned why so much expense could be placed into bolstering the war economy while denying the ship workers a decent wage. Finally, Ward broached the issue of using children to notify their parents of any strangers that are new on the block, adding, “I can appreciate that idea would immediately be shot down in flames. But, keep in mind the Irish Republican Army used children to notify them if there were strangers on the streets in Belfast” (British agents, etc.). Ward said he hoped that we can learn much from the British and European community on how to defend ourselves more efficiently, and especially at a local level.

Bill Ward announced today, Sunday, October 27 at 2:00 am PST/Daylight Savings Time that he will release about 2,000 commemorative CD packages, containing one song, “Straws.” The artwork for “Straws” is near completion and roughly 1,000 CD packages will be delivered before December 1.

Since the release of “Straws” on the Internet, the work to release the CD packages has been underway. Each CD will be numbered, it’s a limited edition, and the packages are not for sale. At least 1,000 copies will be sent first to Bill’s family, friends, fellow musicians, producers, engineers, journalists and some radio stations. Further recipients include establishments for humanitarian causes, peace support groups and individuals, and finally governmental heads of state or countries across the world. Following is a quote from Ward, which will appear on the back of the CD package:

In our arrogance, we often feel the desire to beat on our own chests, in celebration of how far, as human beings, we’ve progressed.

For real human progress.
Aston Cross Music, Inc.©

There are no details yet on where the other 1,000 CD packages will go.