As expected, rapper T.I. was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison as part of his plea deal with prosecutors over a 2007 felony weapons charge.

“Today I would like to say thank-you to some, and apologize to all,” the rapper said.

“Everything I learned was through trial and error. I’ve learned lessons in my life to put in my music so people won’t make the same mistakes as I.”

The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is required to voluntarily turn himself into prison within the next 30 to 60 days, but is not expected do so before May 19.

Northern Georgia District Judge Charles Pannell Jr., who praised the artist for exceeding the expectations required from his plea deal, acknowledged that T.I. had commitments that prevented him from being jailed before the May date.

It’s unclear where he will serve his time, though court officials acknowledged that he would be receiving credit for the 305 days he already spent in home detention.

“I think this has been a great experiment,” Pannell told the rapper of his plea deal. “I hope this experience can lead to other experiments so others won’t make the same mistake at all. I congratulate you.” …

The reformed rapper has made 262 public appearances as part of his community service agreement in addition to taking part in a pro-voting campaign, working with children and appearing in the MTV reality show Road to Redemption.

T.I. was arrested on Oct. 13, 2007, just hours before he was scheduled to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards after cops busted him attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.

As for his sentence, being as it is (just) more than one year long, he will be eligible for early release, should his good behavior warrant it. Had his sentence been one year or less, he would have been required to serve the duration of the time behind bars.

So they had to sentence him to an extra day in prison so that he could get released early? My God, our legal system is sooooo weird.

But, ya know, as much as one can be a good example by being brought up on a felony weapons charge, I think T.I.’s been a good example here. It’s refreshing to see a celebrity taking the conditions of their plea deals seriously and admitting to fault.

Beyonce brought a little Alanis flavor to the opening night of her tour in Edmonton, Canada, doing a cover of “You Oughtta Know.” (Alanis, you’ll recall, is a Canada girl, so that may have been why she chose this song.)

I hate to sound like Paula Abdul here, but she didn’t really make it her own. It played like an exact copy of Alanis’s version. Also, seriously, how 10 years ago is it to encourage the audience to sing the “fuck her” part of that song? I mean, really. Come on, B. I expect more from you.

“Myself, I’m a pothead. It’s no secret. Everyone knows that. I go on the road and forget everything else. Sure, [the tax department] sent letters to my house saying, ‘We need this money.’ They started sending them in 2002. Here it is, 2009, and I never paid this s— because I don’t think like that! I could have easily just written them a check for whatever amount, but no — I waited until they knocked on this door and were like, ‘We got your truck and we outta here.’ Now I’m thinking we’ve gotta get our truck back, which means I have to get all my paperwork together. That means days of going through mail, ’cause I got mail like woah. I’ve found checks from 2005 that have never been opened yet. And we’re talking a significant amount of money! But I never opened [the tax department’s] letters … so this is how the tax man came to Meth’s house and took his truck. Not because I was broke! I got plenty of money!”

Method Man, explaining to the media why the IRS repossessed his Lincoln Navigator because he owed over $50K in back taxes, dating back to 2002.

This is totally the story of my life. Before autopay become ubiquitous, I was always having my power turned off or my cable go out, not because I couldn’t afford to pay it, but because it had completely slipped my mind. I check my mail about once per fiscal period, so they could have sent three final notices and I never would have received them. I was totally ghetto by choice.

Why is it that whenever “troubled marriage” rumors start floating around, celeb couples feel the need to respond by making out in public?  Because if there is one couple that I never need to see having a tongue wrestling match, it’s Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz.  Seeing these pictures gave me a very severe Michael Jackson/Lisa-Marie Presley moment and I don’t appreciate it.

The two nauseated me joined onstage at the MTV Australia awards and sent the unmistakable message:  We.  Are.  Happy.

If you are one of those morbidly curious types, fear not.  Pete, who can never shut his mouth, should be granting an interview any day now letting everyone know how many times they fucked after the awards, who had the most orgasms, and he’ll probably provide a position-by-position summary as well.  We can only hope.

The virtually unrecognizable Kellie Pickler has a new video out for her song Best Days Of Your Life.  The video features Beet’s fave, Taylor Swift, who you just know was thinking about her lost Jonas the whole time they filmed this.

I could totally see this crossing over to Top 40 music which is a good thing.  I’ve been struggling lately because I can’t stand country music, but I find myself liking it and sometimes even seeking it.  This cannot be happening.

Michael Lohan is at it again-more talk about his daughter Lindsay and how he is going to be the one to save her.  Remember that promise he made to keep their private family business out of the media?  Yeah, he doesn’t either.

Lindsay Lohan could end up even worse off than Britney Spears, the troubled actress’ father has said.

Former Wall Street trader Michael Lohan says the Mean Girls star is spiraling into a personal disaster even worse than that of the Toxic hitmaker – and is now pleading with his famous daughter to see sense before it is too late and split from her lesbian partner Samantha Ronson.

He says, “She’s [Ronson] using her and bringing her around the wrong places.

“No matter where they go in the world, where Samantha drags Lindsay to her little DJ events, there’s always a big blow-up. Ever since Lindsay left rehab where she really got her life back together, Samantha has come back into her life and in it all went wrong for her.

“Lindsay was very vulnerable and Samantha seized on that and manipulated her.”

Now Michael is hoping to follow Britney’s dad’s example and take control of his daughter’s affairs.

He adds, “Finally Britney’s father did take control and she got her life back together.

“But Britney didn’t have Samantha Ronson in her life. Lindsay is my daughter and I love her but I’m not there to be a friend, I’m here to be a parent.

“If Lindsay doesn’t like that or is angered by what I have to say, quite frankly I don’t care because.” [sic]

It’s amazing to me, because if he just shut the fuck up and actually did something, Linds would probably be in a better place right now.  Instead, Mike has to blog, preach and tweet about the parenting he so intends to do.

His newest plan sounds like he is seriously considering obtaining a conservatorship over his daughter in an effort to protect her from the evil Samantha Ronson.  I predict that this could be the next Hollywood trend.  Rihanna is so next on the Taken Over By Daddy list.

The most brilliant part of this article?  “I don’t care because.”  I plan to use this all day today.  When I go grocery shopping and the cashier gives me my total, I’m going to say, “I don’t care because,” and see what happens.