docs: def _http_request(self, service_type, **kwargs):
          """
          Perform an HTTP Request using base_url and parameters
          given by kwargs.
          Results are expected to be given in JSON format
          and are parsed to python data structures.
          """
          request_params = urlencode(kwargs)
          request_params = request_params.replace('%28', '').replace('%29', '')
  
          uri = '%s%s?api_key=%s&%s' % \
              (self.base_url, service_type, self.api_key, request_params)
          header, response = self.conn.request(uri, method='GET')
          return header, response