Problem running or executing a function in Postgresql

Hi,

I have a table named mydata
CREATE TABLE public.mydata (
id int4 DEFAULT nextval('public.mydata_id_seq'::text) NOT NULL,
name varchar(50)
) WITH OIDS;

and I have a function as follows
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION insertmydata(varchar) RETURNS int
as '
declare
new_id integer;
begin
INSERT INTO mydata("name") values($1);
new_id = EXECUTE("SELECT FROM currval("mydata_id_seq")");
return new_id;
end;
'
LANGUAGE 'PLPGSQL';

when I run the function as
select insertmydata('Venkatesh')

I am getting the following error message
"ERROR: syntax error at or near "mydata_id_seq" at character 39"
can anyone help me in solving the above problem. Am I missing something
here? How should I run the function to insert data?
I am using postgresql version 7.4.6 in a linux box and running pgadmin from
a Winxp PC.

Kind Regards,
Venki