This week, Eric and Arnie discuss "The Last Zombie", which seems like an unlikely situation considering that there are new zombie-themed media items every week or so.

If you're a fan of Talking Comics, help Eric out a bit by voting for his character The Blackest Terror to appear on the Phoenix Comicon badge. All you have to do is "like" a photo. It's the least you can do, really.

• Zachary Vito

If Republican voters were hoping to get some idea of where the Congressional District 8 candidates differ on the issues, I’m not sure that last night’s forum did them much good.

Only three of the four candidates in the race to finish Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term were onstage; Martha McSally, the former Air Force fighter pilot who is making her political debut, was in D.C. to take care of some campaign business.

So the forum featured state Sen. Frank Antenori, 2010 GOP nominee Jesse Kelly and sports broadcaster and marketing businessman Dave Sitton. All three agreed on most of the topics that came up. They all dislike Washington; they all believe Barack Obama has to go; they all want fewer regulations and lower taxes; none of them support a path to normalization for illegal immigrants who have entered the country.

There were a few elbows tossed. Antenori stressed his political experience over his rivals and knocked Sitton’s suggestion that the federal government do an audit of all spending to nail down where the waste, fraud and abuse come from. Antenori (a former Green Beret) and Kelly (a former Marine) clashed—in a friendly fashion—over the Army and Marine rivalries.

But for the most part, the debate was a collegial affair where the candidates worked to reassure the audience that they were true conservatives rather than tearing into each other.

So we’d chalk up last night as a wash among the candidates.

Given that Jesse probably has the lead among voters at this point (the only poll we’ve seen puts him out in front*), a wash translates into a win for Team Kelly. Early voting in the April 17 primary begins on March 22, so there’s not that much time for the other candidates to overtake him and there are few opportunities that will put them all on the same stage together and get some news coverage.

We’ll see how the debates go next week and how much money the candidates can raise to put into mailers, TV ads, phone banks and radio spots to move those numbers.

If you like the links, and are a fan of the felt, clear your schedule for March 31.

That's when Casino del Sol is hosting its 11th annual Golf & Poker Scramble, a gathering that just screams action junky.

For $75 per person you can participate (first) in a 2-person scramble at Del Lago Golf Club in Vail, then wrap the day after with a tag-team No-Limit Hold'Em poker tournament with a guaranteed $2,000 prize pool at Casino del Sol.

Del Sol poker room director Rick Chaurette said the event is one of the most eagerly anticipated by both his employees — many of whom play golf on their days off from dealing poker — and regular customers. The idea started with him when he worked at a casino in Laughlin, Nev., and followed him to Tucson more than a decade ago.

"I have people starting to ask me about this all the way back in October," Chaurette said. "It's a good way to get people out and have some fun."

Chaurette said the event can accommodate about 100 pairings. Entries can be made at the Del Sol poker room and must be turned in by March 26. For more information check out the casino's Web site.

Tough luck, Cubs fans. You'll have to purchase a $60 video game (and possibly a PS3) to even experience a glimpse of a World Series win.

Of course, I'm a Cleveland Indians fan and I suspect that MLB The Show won't even simulate a championship in digital form for my team. You get to the final out and a screen comes up that says "NICE TRY, LOSER. NOT NOW, NOT EVER."

Thankfully, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's headless running robot "Cheetah" still needs to be attached to an off-board hydraulic pump to operate, but at some point, DARPA will continue its technological advances and this bucket of bolts will be running the streets at 18 miles per hour hunting down human prey.

Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield said the latest achievement was very impressive.

"With faster than human speed, this is a step in the development of a high speed killer that could negotiate a battlefield quickly to hunt and kill," he said.

People get mad that the government is paying for healthcare, but they don't flinch at the development of free-running death robots? Color me confused.

The American Friends Service Committee, joined by the NAACP of Maricopa County. joined in filing a protest with the State Procurement Office over a request for proposals issued by the state Department of Corrections for 2,000 private, for-profit prison beds.

According to a press release from AFSC, the protest letter, sent to the ADC chief procurement officer and the head of the state procurement office, "argues that the state of Arizona does not need and cannot afford more prison beds, and that the existing prison contracts violate state statutes requiring private prisons to cost less and provide the same or better quality of service as state prisons."

The letter cites ADC cost studies that show that some private prisons are more expensive than equivalent state units. "They also point to a host of security inspections, Auditor General Investigations, and other published data that reveal that private prisons have inferior safety standards, including faulty alarms."

A copy of the letter and more from the press release, below the cut:

• Design by The Contained Gardener, Photo and Gardencare by Martha
• Winter Pot 2012

Plants included in this potted garden are Dusty Miller, Bi-color pansies, Ornamental Kale and Alyssum.

Keep plants well watered, but not over watered. Stick your finger into the soil to see if it is damp. If so, hold off on watering for another day. With the nights remaining cool, the soil will not dry out just because the temperature hits 80 during the day.

Be sure to apply your water soluble fertilizer to flowers every two weeks and keep up your deadheading!

If you are interested in how to create a dedicated pot irrigation line, register for my class on March 15 from 2:30 - 4pm. The cost is $25 and you leave with an irrigation emergency repair kit. You can call to register 733-3359 and use a credit card for payment.

For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener. Have a question? Email Marylee

Sign up for our monthly gardening e-news and garden alerts!

The ad, with its hilarity and appeal to my love for a bargain, had me sold. I was typed in "dollarshaveclub.com" and then nothing. Just a thought for companies hoping to catch viral video gold with their ad...make sure your web host can handle the traffic spike if you happen to find success. Still, the ad's fun to watch.

I haven't been to the film and interactive conference that's going on this week, but Austin's SXSW music festival is just a relentless rock ’n’ roll firehouse. With 2,000 bands roaming the clubs, theaters and streets, it's impossible to sort through it all, but as long you don't somehow break a leg and end up stuck in your hotel room, you'll end hearing plenty of great stuff. (And rumor has it that even if you do break a leg, you can get rent what you need to still get around, at least a little bit.)

NPR is doing its part to help me sort through what's gonna be available next week with The Austin 100: A SXSW Mix, which includes 100 songs by artists who will in Austin next week. I'm particularly digging the Heartless Bastards (who will be at Club Congress on Friday, March 30, with Tucson's own Brian Lopez), Nada Surf, Spoek Mathambo, Shimmering Stars, Caveman, Girl in a Coma and the Alabama Shakes, but almost all of it is worth downloading (especially when you consider that it's free).

In Arizona, exploiting the politics of immigration has worked well for Republicans. Signing SB 1070 got Jan Brewer reelected as governor and created a wedge issue that helped the GOP win a two-thirds majority in the Arizona Legislature in 2010.

But it hasn't been without backlash. Russell Pearce, who led the way in demonizing illegal immigrants, ended up being the first Senate president ever recalled in the history of the United States.

GOP strategists have been warning for some time that a national backlash might be growing as Republican rhetoric on immigration turns off Hispanic voters. Well, check out this Fox News Latino poll:

But the poll shows that the overwhelming choice among likely Latino voters is President Obama. In head-to-head match-ups none of the GOP candidates would garner more than 14 percent of the Latino vote come November, the poll said.

"This is what we're seeing across the country," said Gabriela Domenzain, Obama campaign spokesperson. "The more Latinos learn about the candidates, the more they reject them."

Caught-up in the throes of a bitterly contested primary season, the GOP hopefuls seem to be losing traction among Latino voters.

For Latinos, Immigration is More Personal Than Political, Fox News Latino Poll Says

While the poll indicates that four of five Latinos who voted for Obama in 2008 would vote for him later this year, Latinos who voted for Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain four years ago are now divided between voting for Obama and the Republican candidates. Forty percent said that they favored Obama while 38 percent said they would vote for Romney. Obama also leads Santorum 38 percent to 34, and Gingrich 40 percent to 38.