MySQL or XML

I’m looking for recommendations on whether it’s easier/better to get Flash to interact with a MySQL database or XML. Basically, I’m trying to develop some simple (and minimally animated) slides involving a list of words and their frequencies (number of occurrances). Ultimately, the Flash script needs to be able to call each word in the list, then size the word and a bubble relative to the number of occurances. Simple, right? Problem is that I’m not zippy with feeding the data into a script. I can handle simple flash animations and such, but I’d be grateful for any recommendations about how best to proceed.

Thanks!