I'm confused. Is Sarah Mirk a journalist or a blogger? Because you can't be both. A real journalist maintains objectivity at all times while a blogger has none whatsoever. Ms. Mirk loses all credibility by spouting her juvenile opinion every chance she gets. She probably has a bright future at Fox "News."

@caroll - The Mercury has said before that their editorial stance is against any illusion of objectivity. She may be a journalist, but she's also a citizen of Portland just like we are, and the things she writes about really do effect her. Any allusion to objectivity could therefore only be a misleading, dishonest facade.

@Smirk - don't we have a "sister city" in Japan? I think the park in front of City Hall has some kind of monument to our "sisters." All I know for sure is they never write or call...

Sarah Mirk is a journalist who happens to post on a blog now and again. Did you notice the giant banner at the top of the screen that says BLOGTOWN? pretty good indicator that you will now be reading a blog. Lighten up.

Sarah Mirk is also a journalist who's getting her dates wrong - this appears to be happening RIGHT NOW, not tomorrow morning.

Our sister city in Japan is Sapporo, home of a rather tasty Japanese beer. Not sure about strip joints there, though. Raise a big bottle of Sapporo for the Emperor.

Yipes! Thanks SGP! Fixed.

@Demondog: I've been to Sapporo. I don't remember seeing any strip clubs, but they could have been there. I couldn't read the signs. I did receive some Tissue Packs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue-pack_m…) that had pictures of cute girls on them, but who knows what they were really selling.

@bongoboy: I didn't realize I was staying in the red-light district in Sapporo. I was just happy to eat takoyaki and play arcade games at 3am. But I was also there with a married couple and my at-the-time girlfriend. Not really much of a chance to pay for some strange.