string[] myNiceSort(string[] items)
{
	string[] prefixes = string[] {"a", "the", "is"};
	char[] charsToTrim = { ' ', ',', '\t', '.'};

	Array.Sort(items, delegate(string a, string b) {

		// two following chunks, one can put in some external function
		a = a.ToLower();
		int pa = a.IndexOfAny(charsToTrim);
		if (pa>0) {
			if (prefixes.Contains( a.Substring(0, pa) )) {
				// clean leading whitespaces
				a = a.Substring(pa).TrimStart(charsToTrim);
			}
		}

		b = b.ToLower();
		int pb = b.IndexOfAny(charsToTrim);
		if (pb>0) {
			if (prefixes.Contains( b.Substring(0, pb) )) {
				// clean leading whitespaces
				b = b.Substring(pb).TrimStart(charsToTrim);
			}
		}

		return a.CompareTo(b);
	});

	return items;
}