[Techtalk] PHP tutorials?

[Charlotte Oliver]

Hi everyone!

Over the last few days, I have been playing with MySQL.  Man,
is this database neat!  I am so excited by how incrediably
scalable MySQL is.

But, it leads me to a question.  I need a middleware skill --
at this point, I know neither PHP nor Perl, which I understand
are the best two languages to learn to use for MySQL queries.
(I hear you can use shell scripting, but it's an incrediably
backwards way to manage mySQL).  My goal is just to set up
a few personal databases, such as a repository of the significance
of the saints you see in art, a catalogue of my books at home,
a training program record for my best friend and her dog, etc.
Which route should I concentrate on first -- PHP or Perl?  And
what are some good (free) resources for learning them?

Thanks!
Charlotte
-- 

<aeris> You are the Alpha and the Omega.
<ducky> I am the first hop and the last hop.
        I am the source and the destination,
	I am the syn and the ack.