For those of you who didn't know, Ethan just turned 17 so let's all wish him a happy birthday!
Ethan has been here for a long long time and has seen a lot happen to MB throughout. As a moderator and forum poster in general, he has contributed an unbelievable amount to MusicBanter. He is the driving force behind MB's activities including poll competitions and RYM lists and everything here in general. As jackhammer said, Ethan is the glue which holds us all together.
Moderating is often a thankless job as evidenced by the quote in Ethan's sig and some of the recent negative posts. I think that amidst all the forum tension, arguments and drama lately, people are forgetting that we have a great music community here, with plenty of contributors. I think it's high time we considered how much Ethan has brought to this forum... perhaps some of you haven't been here long enough to realise how much worse MB would be without his countless hours of effort.
So cheers
EDIT: And if you have a birthday emoticon adidasss, chuck it in here!