Hawaii’s Instaweek: Hyping Up Killer Waves, Pro Bowl and the Governor

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The news hype came in waves this week.

First, Gov. Neil Abercrombie started the week with his first re-election campaign ad in local media and then his State of the State speech the next day. Civil Beat political writer Chad Blair pointed out that the campaign’s messaging and the governor’s sunny outlook on the state’s fiscal health couldn’t help but intertwine.

The governor’s mixing of politics and state business in an election year prompted us to take note of other political messages by incumbents, who have the distinct advantage of being able to use their public offices to keep themselves in front of the public. So we started a new series this week called Ad Watch.

Think of them as a combination of fact checks and analysis of other parts of a candidate’s message, including tone, focus and strategy. Our Washington, D.C. correspondent Adrienne LaFrance’s analysis of U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s first re-election online video. kicks off the series.

Record waves crashing into shorelines across the state, and NFL all-star players descending upon Honolulu for the Pro Bowl also made for news shared by both media and local news junkies. Both make for pretty entertaining photos.

Monday, Jan. 20

Hawaii prides itself on being a cultural melting pot, so it’s easy to see why Martin Luther King Jr.’s message resonated here. Racial tensions remain, as they do in most places, but Hawaii’s social media community gave plenty of respect and aloha to Dr. King’s legacy.

Even from Washington, D.C., presidential historian and future New York Times contributing columnist Michael Beschloss remembered Dr. King’s trip to Hawaii in 1959 to promote equality and celebrate Hawaii’s new status as a state.

The had a series of tweets commemorating King’s impact on the Pacific community. For a good archive on its educational tweets, visit its Pinterest board .

Monday’s parade drew .

Tuesday, Jan. 21

Abercrombie gave his fourth #StateOfTheState address on Tuesday (the hashtag was also used for other State of the State addresses happening that day, including New Mexico).

Tuesday’s speech was the last day of official pomp and circumstance before lawmakers sat down to the nitty gritty work of policy making. It was a packed house at the Hawaii State Capitol.

Wednesday, Jan. 22

Jan. 22 might as well be called Wave Wednesday for 2014. There was much hype surrounding the possible 50-foot waves on the North Shore. Although the waves came in choppier than expected, they were still an impressive display of nature’s forces.

The mood up at the North Shore was a strange mixture of wonder and dread, as Rocky Point homeowners once again braced themselves for impact, just as they did just a few weeks ago.

Here’s an aerial shot of Wednesday’s waves.

Thursday, Jan. 23

Now here’s a sight, a boat caught fire at the Hawaii Kai Marina and sank, according to from KHON News. The video is below.

Friday, Jan. 24

Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl is actually a very big deal for Hawaii, which generates at least $25 million for the local economy. The future of it . By the end of the week, the players had arrived and were making appearances all over town.

The game is more for show, to celebrate the NFL’s end of the season. A common criticism of the game is that the players never play as vigorously as they would during regular season games, and the rules are adjusted to avoid injuries to any of the players.

Of course, Pro Bowl also means a series of awkward photos of burly linebackers draped in colorful leis.

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