If you haven't seen this before it's s good holiday distraction.
It uses the zoetrope idea, but on a bike wheel with a proper camera with a shutter speed.
A group in Oxford has been producing some with school children:
http://vimeo.com/24870016
This is one by the same group animating a puncture:
The first person to play with this was Tim Wheatley, calling it Cyclotrope. Here's his first animation. It is flippin awesome!
http://vimeo.com/21016797
Enjoy!