def ReadFileAsLines(filename):
    """Reads a file, removing blank lines and lines that start with #"""
    file = open(filename, "r")
    raw_lines = file.readlines()
    file.close()
    lines = []
    for line in raw_lines:
        line = line.strip()
        if len(line) > 0 and not line.startswith("#"):
            lines.append(line)
    return lines