def split_content_type(c_type):
  """ Parses the content type. 
  
  Args: 
    c_type: the content type.
  Returns:
    A tuple the first portion of the content type and a key/value dictionary
    of the content-type.
  """
  delim = ';'
  ps = c_type.split(delim)
  tup = dict([(k.lower().strip(), v) for k, v in [p.split('=', 1) \
                                     for p in ps[1:]]])
  return tup